


This is amazing

by cherrishish



Series: Otherworldly adventures [5]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Daughter of Dusk game, Edeline Elric, F/F, Female Edward Elric, Gen, Human Transmutation, Memory Loss, Prince of Dawn game, Sick Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-10
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-21 16:46:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 38,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7395532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrishish/pseuds/cherrishish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Al is recovering not long after getting his body back when he realizes that this means certain new ups and downs to life. Downs in this case being able to get sick again. But he is not the only one discovering things about himself. fem!Ed inspirations from xIcyChanx, some later elements from Batsutousai. Rated T for language. Follow-up of Fullmetal and the Boy Who Lived.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story takes place after Fullmetal and the Boy Who Lived. Many story elements and plotlines might not make any sense if you haven't read Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.

It's only been a few months since the Elric siblings had saved the world and Alphonse finally got his body back. He was still in the hospital, his recovery well on its way. He was steadily gaining his weight and strength back, Edeline being with her beloved brother every step of the way.

They were sitting on one of the benches in the hospital's garden on a beautiful early summer morning, enjoying the mild warmth of the sun's rays, playing cards to kill some time until Al's next physical therapy session, when suddenly… he sneezed.

"Haha," Al laughed out. "Such a funny feeling! I haven't been able to sneeze in so long!" he mused.

"Are you cold?" Ed scowled with worry instantly. "Let's go back inside!" she suggested, not waiting for a reply.

She was already gathering the cards and their other stuff, holding out Al's cane to him so that he could get up. Al complied without a word but let out an exasperated sigh at his sister's overbearingness.

As they made their way back to the room at a slow pace, this rare occurrence happened a few more times.

"Are you sure, you are okay?" Ed kept asking after blessing him.

"I'm fine!" Al answered for the umpteenth time and quite frankly getting bored with it but got in his bed under his blankets at his sister's request anyway as soon as they got there. Under Ed's worried glances he decided to read an alchemy book instead since clearly, the ex-alchemist's mood ruled out any other fun activity together. After a few minutes, his eyes shot up as if something dawned on him.

"Sister! I'm able to get sick again!" Al enthused with wild excitement glinting in his eyes as he realized the fact.

"Don't be so damn happy about it!" Ed exclaimed loudly in frustration at her brother's cheerfulness over something that isn't supposed to be a pleasant or good thing.

"This is a hospital! Lower your voices!" a nurse – Nurse Nora to be specific – ducked in from the hallway to admonish them.

"We are sorry!" they apologetically said in unison, putting up their hands.

They wouldn't want to get on  _her_  bad side. Nurse Nora just shook her head in disapproval as she left, knowing full well that the siblings could never keep the peace and quiet, there was always something going on around them, be it a visitor or good-hearted banter between them, they always managed to make a ruckus.

"Still it's nice to be able to experience something normal like that again!" Al added in a quieter tone after they were alone again.

"You want to be sick?" Ed frowned, confusion evident in her eyes.

"No! I don't  _want_  to," he replied quickly to ease his sister's mind. "But the knowledge that I am able to again is nice… I'm not sure if that makes sense."

"Because it doesn't!" she threw up her hands in the air in exasperation.

"I'm just happy to have my body back with all ups and downs it may come with," Al tried to explain further with a little pout as he averted his eyes. Ed's expression softened at that.

"I know. I'm sorry," she offered just as Al's face scrunched up again as he was about to sneeze.

Then nothing happened.

"Ah, this is so frustrating!" Al let out a sigh as the tickle subsided in his nose. Ed got up from her chair and went over to her brother to place a hand on his forehead which surprised Al, but he didn't say a thing.

"I think you have a low-grade fever," she stated. "I'm getting a nurse."

"There is no need! I feel fine!" he protested. Nurse Nora was almost as frightening to him as their teacher Izumi was.

"Don't care!" Ed waved as she already headed towards the door of the hospital room knowing full well that her brother wouldn't be able to catch up to her in his current state yet.

"You are so mean!" Al whined at the retreating figure of his sister. In a minute or so she was back already with Nurse Nora in her tow.

"So what seems to be the problem?" she asked with a sweet but no-nonsense attitude.

"My brother is making a mountain out of a molehill, that's what's happening!" Al lamented, throwing angry glances at Ed.

Of course, Ed's identity was still a secret in front of everyone. Mustang's team wasn't let in on it yet either, although Ed felt it would be inevitable sooner or later. She was on leave from the military indefinitely until Al got on his feet again and decided what he wanted to do from there. Until that time came, she didn't want to quit because currently the military way paying for Al's therapy. Also, she wasn't quite sure yet what she wanted to do from here on out, and if Al decided to leave the country, she wanted to be left with options.

"Mhh-hhmm," she hummed disbelievingly as she got her thermometer out, sticking it in Al's mouth without question. Ed drummed her fingers impatiently on the table where she had sat down while they waited for the result, driving Nurse Nora to end of her patience. Fortunately, the time was up before she could lose it.

"Well, it is a slightly elevated, but nothing to be too concerned about," she stated as she examined the reading. "Have you been experiencing any other symptoms?" she inquired, but before Al could deny it, Ed cut in quickly.

"Yeah, he has been sneezing his head off all morning," she ratted him out, earning a few disapproving glances from the brown-haired nurse for not letting her brother answer.

"It's probably just a cold," the nurse turned back to Al. "But given your current state of general health, bed rest for you until it passes just to be on the safe side."

"But I feel fine!" Al finally got his word in, a little desperation evident in his voice. He really didn't want to be stuck inside when it was warm and sunny out, especially now that he was finally able to actually feel it.

"You don't want to go and give yourself pneumonia, do you?" the stern nurse chided.

"No…" Al gave in reluctantly.

"Good! Now, behave yourselves!" she warned as she left them to themselves again. Just as they thought she was gone, she stuck her head back in the room to add something.

"This also includes the physical therapy! We don't need you straining yourself!" and she was out again.

"But..." Al sat up straight in his bed but then trailed off when he realized the nurse couldn't hear him anymore.

He was always looking forward to the PT sessions even if it meant a lot of hard work and often pain since this was the way to get his old self back. He forlornly sank back against his pillows, grabbing the book he was reading earlier off his nightstand, continuing to read, and effectively blocking out the world.

Ed just sighed to herself. If something like this could put Al in a foul mood, who was always the epitome of cheerful optimism, she was sure that he wasn't feeling a 100% well. Just as if to prove her point, he sniffled and looked around for a handkerchief.

"Right, I'll get you one," she quickly got up and shuddered at the fact that she had to go bother the nurses again, but went anyway. She ended up having to go out to buy one, and by the time she got back, she found Al sleeping, snoring away lightly, the book he was reading lying face down on his stomach.

"Fine, my ass…" Ed snorted, picking up said book and placing it back on the nightstand.

She pulled up the covers to Al's chin making sure he was warm enough.


	2. Missing memories

Edeline sat in the chair beside Al's bed, reading – or at least going through the pretenses of reading. In reality, she kept stealing glances at her brother, looking for any sign of his condition worsening while he slept.

"Hmm… you are back," came the sleepy and little bit stuffed up voice from the bed, drawing the ex-alchemist's attention there at once.

"How are you feeling?" the blond girl asked with worry etched in her voice.

"Better I guess… wasn't feeling bad though earlier either," Al smiled at his sister then frowned when he saw that she had stolen his book. "Hey, I was reading that!"

"No, you weren't, you were fast asleep!" Ed teased good-humoredly but handed him the book back anyway which Al dug into instantly.

After a few minutes of silence, the girl couldn't stop herself from voicing her thoughts that were bothering her for quite a few weeks now.

"Hey, Al…" she began timidly, catching her brother's attention at once. It wasn't like Ed to be unsure of herself. Once the ex-alchemist had Al's gaze on her, she continued. "Do you believe in magic?"

The question was so random and unexpected that it caught the younger Elric entirely off guard. Instead of answering, he leaned over to place a hand on Ed's forehead because  _surely_ she was the one running a fever if such thoughts came to her mind. In the end, he couldn't tell though with his hand being warmer with his own low-grade fever, so he decided to ask her instead.

"Are you sure  _you_  are feeling okay?" Al chuckled teasingly. Well, come on! Their whole lives they were focused on alchemy, most importantly on the scientific nature of it. Why come to question it now?

"Yeah, I just can't shake this feeling that I am forgetting – no, more like missing something – ever since I came back from the Gate," Ed explained with strain evident in her face as she tried to get her memory going again, without success.

"Well, yeah, you gave up your alchemy to Truth," the younger blonde stated as a matter of fact.

"No something else… I just can't quite put a finger on what it is… my mind keeps coming up blank," she insisted but was getting quickly frustrated with the subject already. Maybe she shouldn't have asked.

"It must be your femininity!" her brother joked earning himself a pillow thrown in the face.

But to tell the truth, they all knew that something had happened to Ed while at the Gate. Al saw and  _remembered_  her deal going wrong and then she was sucked in through the other Gate. She had been missing for a few days then suddenly just reappeared in his hospital room dressed… well, in weird clothes but most importantly she was dressed as a girl… It was lucky that it was only him and Winry in the room at the time. Ed instantly changed though – with Al's help, given her lack of alchemy – to her regular, boyish clothes and chest bandages, leaving that part of herself behind as fast as it came.

And her auto-mail… It had been bright red and made from a material Winry had never seen before, much less used in auto-mail. Of course, by now it was gone. The mechanic had insisted on getting rid of that abomination from her precious work. But Ed couldn't remember anything. Other than that well… she did have her flesh right arm that Al traded back for her and her alchemy was gone like her original deal stated. But something  _had_ happened in between.

"You are such a jerk sometimes!" Ed cried out indignantly. It wasn't just her  _femininity_  that was hurt by the comment, but anybody could have heard that, for crying out loud!

Just then Colonel (no wait,  _Brigadier General_ ) Mustang and Lieutenant (sorry wrong again:  _Captain_ ) Hawkeye came in visiting. Both of them had been promoted for their part in saving the world on the Promised Day. Ed was going to be promoted too but being unsure of what she wanted to do after all this she refused.

"Hey, we heard that you were a little under the weather, so we decided to…" Roy paused as he gauged the scene that had unfolded before him with Al having a large pillow effectively shoved in his face and the playfully murderous glare that Ed sported. "Bring you some soup…" he finished, cocking a brow.

"I see you have your sight back,  _bastard_ …" Ed huffed as she abandoned her mock strangling of her brother. The last time the blonde had seen the raven-haired man, he had still been in the hospital and pretty blind thanks to the ministrations of Pride during their battle with Father.

"Brother…" Al tried to reason with his sister – still keeping the pretenses up in front of Riza since only Mustang knew – but Roy put up a hand to halt him, signaling that he can defend himself.

"I know you don't approve of me using the Philosopher's Stone, Fullmetal, but I intend to use it to make the Ishvalans prosper again," Mustang stated in a solemn voice.

"Yeah, yeah…" the ex-alchemist brushed him off, sitting back in her chair with crossed legs and arms, throwing daggers at her superior with her eyes.

"So how are you feeling, Alphonse?" Hawkeye decided to get the visit back on track with an ominously calm voice. She set the soup they had brought down on the nightstand beside Al, prompting Roy and Ed to cease their angry staring contest in fear that other things than words might be used against them by the stern bodyguard. Like guns… and bullets.

"I'm fine, really," the boy waved off the concern with a broad smile, but the Captain was known for her no-nonsense attitude, and she placed her hand in a motherly fashion on Al's forehead, making him blush a little.

"Yeah, not too bad," she commented kindly, allowing herself a twitch of a smile at the corner of her mouth.

Their visitors were gone in less than ten minutes after that, probably off to work to wrestle with a pile of paperwork the  _Brigadier General_  just hated so much.


	3. Confessions

In the car on the way back to HQ, Hawkeye couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

"General, have you noticed anything odd about Edward lately?" she asked finally, glancing over to Roy while she drove. Mustang didn't respond, evidently deep in thought himself as he gazed out the window on his right side.

"General?" Riza tried again.

"Hmm… yes, sorry, were you saying something?" the Flame Alchemist finally directed his attention to his subordinate.

"Edward. There is something odd about him since he came back from the Gate," the Captain stated this time, not bothering to phrase it like a question.

"Well… I guess he just has a hard time processing that their several year's long quest is finally over," he said, knowing that wasn't it.

Edeline wasn't the type of person to get hung up on that. But yes, she should have been happy, ecstatic even that Alphonse was finally in his human body again, not bound to a piece of armor. And yet, something seemed to be on her mind while they were there. She looked pissed about the Philosopher's Stone, but that wasn't it either. The ex-alchemist kept awfully quiet during their visit besides that one outburst.

"May I speak freely, sir?" Riza requested earnestly, keeping her eyes on the road.

"You may, Captain," Roy granted her the permission.

"I feel like you are hiding something about Fullmetal. In fact, I have had that feeling for a few years now. You always have that weird expression when talking about him," she stated glancing over to gauge Roy's reaction to her observations.  _Damn! Too perceptive for her own good. But it wasn't his secret to tell that Fullmetal was actually a girl…_

"What expression would that be exactly?" the General asked nonchalantly as he placed his elbow on the window to rest his head in his palm.

"Well… I would call it a mixture of fondness and protectiveness. Don't tell me you have feelings for him?" Hawkeye didn't take Mustang for a gay person, she saw too many flirts and flings with all sorts of women to believe that, but who knew? He might be bisexual.

"WHAAAT?" Roy cried out in surprise. He was glad he wasn't drinking anything because he would have surely choked on it. "Fullmetal is more like a daughter to me, if anything!"

"Daughter, huh?" Riza smirked to herself.

So that's what he had been hiding all this time. And this revelation actually explained a lot. So much so that the Captain wasn't even all that astonished by it. All that overly aggressive and obnoxious behavior was Ed's way of covering her tracks. Hawkeye wondered if the older Elric was really all that upset about her height or just assumed that persona too to make her boyish character more realistic. Being a petite girl wasn't all that embarrassing as being small in stature if you were trying to pass yourself off as a boy.

"Dammit!" Mustang cursed then sighed. That was his Captain alright. She could get any information out of anyone if she put her mind to it.

"It's alright, I understand and won't tell the others," Hawkeye promised to put Roy's mind to rest. She knew the rules and the implications this scandal could bring if it ever got out. "Is Edward…"

"Edeline," Roy amended.

"Was she ever going to tell us about it?" the blond sniper inquired.

"I'm not so sure. I found out only by accident too. When she was really ill two years ago remember?" the General informed hinting at that time when Fullmetal ended up in his care at his house because of her dangerously high fever.

"Ah, yes," she remembered Ed collapsing in the office then being adamant about no one touching her. That made so much more sense now too. "You didn't strip her, did you?" Hawkeye accused with a murderous glare.

"What do you think of me, really?" Mustang protested indignantly. "She fell in the bathroom, and I walked in to see what happened, only to catch a glimpse of her in the chest bandages she used to cover up… you know…" he motioned with his hands to his torso. Hawkeye reached over to slap him on the back of his head.

"You are lucky that was the only thing you saw. I am sure she would have murdered you if that weren't the case," Riza chuckled humorlessly. Then she would have another thing to watch Mustang's back against.

"I did have a bar of soap hurled at me," Roy laughed at the memory.

"Now I'm sorry I wasn't there to witness it," Hawkeye shook her head with a smile of mirth. That would have been one hell of a sight.

* * *

The next day the blond ex-alchemist stood by the window in the hospital room, arms crossed. Just staring at the world outside. Alphonse really didn't know what to make of the whole thing. He was starting to get worried about his sister. Finally, he came to a conclusion and decided to get out of bed to try and find out what was eating her from the inside.

"Sis…" he said quietly, making sure no one heard, as he placed his hand on her shoulder. The situation just somehow called for the pretenses to be dropped, so he didn't want to call her brother like he always did.

"What are you doing out of bed?" Ed turned as she came out of her daze.

"What are you thinking about?" Al ignored his sister's question and sat her down in the chair by his little table, sitting down across from her.

"Al, I've been thinking…" the blond girl started cautiously after a few moments. "Would you be mad at me if I didn't move back to Resembool with you after you are discharged from the hospital? I'll come down with you, of course, just not stay for too long."

"So that's what's been bothering you…" the teen answered a bit disappointed. He thought this whole moping was about something else. "No, it's wonderful. I was planning on traveling later to Xing anyway. And what do you want to do?"

"Stay in the military," Ed answered a bit guiltily.

"I thought you hated the military…" the blond boy trailed off in confusion.

"Well, yeah…" the ex-alchemist said. "I do… but I have the feeling that Mustang will need someone else besides Hawkeye to keep him in line if he is aiming to become Führer President."

"Is this still about the Philosopher's Stone?" Al questioned quirking a brow at his sister. She seemed so upset earlier when she found out that Roy got his sight back.

"Yes and no. I just want to make sure the country will be a place where future generations could live happily," the blonde admitted.

"That's noble of you," her brother smiled kindly. "What are you waiting for?" he nudged.

"What do you mean?" it was Ed's place to look surprised.

"Go tell them!" Al commanded with his boyish innocence and playfulness that somehow still came across as domineering and unchallengeable.

"I'm not going to leave you here! You are still sick," Ed retorted with resolve.

"Seriously…" the younger Elric shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Nothing is going to happen in the hour you are away! Go do your thing! That's what you are best at. I feel like you are going batshit stir crazy doing nothing while you are waiting for me to finally catch up."

"Are you sure?" the girl asked hesitantly. It was clear that she was itching for a change of scenery.

"Yes! Go!" Al demanded as forcefully as he could.

Finally giving in, the ex-alchemist shot up from her place, grabbed her red coat from the rack and ran out the door.

"Geez…" the boy chuckled to himself. Nurse Nora came in just then.

"Is everything alright? I saw Ed run off in a hurry," she asked with worry.

"Yes, everything is fine," Al smiled his signature boyish smirk that could melt anyone as he rested his head on his hand.

"Then back to bed, mister!" Nurse Nora ordered in a tone that might even have Izumi Curtis running for the hills.  _Maybe._

"Yes, ma'am!" the patient obliged with a terrified expression on his face scurrying back under the blankets.

* * *

Ed practically sprinted through the streets towards Central Command. Her face and name were well-known all through Central. Not just because of the Promised Day but even before that. She got quite a name for herself when she went about alchemically fixing problems in the city without asking for payment when she wanted to get Scar's attention about a year ago.

So it was no surprise to her when a bunch of people turned after her or greeted her nicely as she passed by. Actually many had been on the brink of mourning her after she had disappeared for three days after her last transmutation.

 _Was it really the last though?_  – the blonde thought to herself. She always got the feeling that she was missing so much more time than just three days. But she couldn't remember. Not wanting to dwell on it, she shook it off and kept running.

Reaching HQ, she sprinted up the stairs and towards Mustang's office. When she got there, Ed practically ripped the door open and almost walked past the General's subordinates without a word before she spotted someone she hadn't been expecting.

"Havoc!" Ed exclaimed in a pleasant surprise. She thought the 2nd Lieutenant had retired because of a spinal injury.  _That bastard… at least he did something useful now._ The blonde suddenly wasn't all that furious that Roy got his hands on a stone.

"Oi, Chief!" he greeted with a wave. "How's Al doing?"

"He is doing good, caught a little cold yesterday, but insists that I don't fuss about it," the ex-alchemist laughed.

"Tell him to get well!" Jean called after the blonde.

"Sure do!" Ed waved back as she entered the inner office.

"Wasn't expecting you Fullmetal…" Mustang glanced up from his pile of paperwork with Captain Hawkeye by his side with another smaller one in her hand, watching over him. "Is Alphonse okay?" he asked nonchalantly as he signed the paper before him and handed it to Riza to take care of. The blond sniper left with the documents right after.

"Yeah, he is fine…" Ed waited for Hawkeye to close the door behind herself before she continued. "I want you to take me back on your team," she blurted out with any prelude.

"Well, technically you were never discharged from the military or my team… but what would I do with you exactly now that you can't use alchemy anymore?" Roy asked with a smug smile.  _Bastard…_

"I can learn to be better with firearms. Be a sniper like the Captain. I don't really care…" Ed shrugged her shoulders. Roy had to snicker at this one.

"I think both you and I know very well that you don't have the patience to be a sniper. You can't even sit still for a second," he looked at Ed knowingly who fidgeted in her spot on the sofa.

"I can if I want to…" the blonde pouted crossing her legs and arms. "And I'm still your strongest asset in hand-to-hand combat."

"Alright, alright. It's fine by me," the General put his hands up before the yelling could start. "Why do you want to do this exactly? I thought you would be happy to get rid of the military finally."

"Well, you need loyal subordinates to push you to the top, don't you? Also, I want to be there to kick your ass if you ever do something stupid," the ex-alchemist stated with a fierce stare that clearly yelled that she was dead serious, especially about the ass-kicking part.

"True," Mustang chuckled.  _Oh boy… what am I in for…_

"Also, I think it's time the team learned about my identity if we are going to keep working together more closely for long. It's better than them finding out accidentally during a mission or something," Ed amended much to Mustang's surprise.

"Yeah, about that…" Roy got up from his place and walked around his desk, starting for the door. "Hawkeye already knows."

"WHAT?" Ed burst out.

"Yesterday she sort of extorted the information out of me in the car on the way here. She was worried about you. You haven't really been acting like yourself since you returned," he said pausing in his tracks and leaning against his desk. The blonde just sighed. "Do you remember what happened over there?" Mustang questioned further.

"Not a thing," Ed mumbled. This has been frustrating her too. "But it's not like I can do anything about it. I'm unable to strike any more deals to regain my memories with Truth even if I wanted to," she stated and for a dramatic effect clapped her hands together and placed them on the table. But of course, nothing happened. "See?"

"Okay, let's get this over with," Roy said pushing himself away from the table and walking up to the door to call the others in for the confessional.

The team filed in, looking confused. The only one who seemed nonchalant about the situation was Riza.

"Okay, so I'm not so good with long explanations, so just here goes: I'm actually a girl named Edeline," Ed came out looking at her hands, putting her pointer fingers together.

Of course, jaws were dropped. Especially Havoc's. But they came to accept the fact pretty quickly.


	4. Nostalgia

Walking back towards the hospital, Ed decided to pick up some fruit for Al to eat. It was healthy and shit… vitamins and what not… that's what you buy for sick people, right? A fond smile crept up on her face as she thought of her brother. It still took some time getting used to the fact that he was whole again, in a flesh body.

Then she had to chuckle. Not even twenty minutes ago she had revealed her gender to Mustang's team. It was kind of liberating, not having to pretend so hard that she was a boy, at least in some circles. Not that she minded too much, she had gotten used to it over the years, bit still, it was a nice change of pace.

_"_ _Fullmetal is a GIRL?" Havoc spluttered out first, eyeing her up as if trying to find some evidence of the statement being true._

_"_ _Yeah… sorry that I had to lie to you guys for so long… but you know… rules…" Ed mumbled self-consciously, rubbing the back of her head._

_"_ _And you, Boss, you knew the whole time?" the 2nd lieutenant looked incredulously at his superior._

_"_ _Not the_ whole _time…" Mustang shrugged._

_"_ _I always wondered if Ed was more on the feminine side…" Fuery inserted into the conversation, then when everyone looked at him with surprise he blushed furiously. "What? Was it only me?"_

_Who would have thought? Innocent looking little Kain on the perceptive side of things… Breda and Falman just kind of shrugged it off. Havoc, on the other hand, was still in shock._

_"_ _B-but… Chief… how?" the blond man stuttered as he tried to do the math in his head regarding what this new information actually implied on so many different levels. Secrecy, cover up, fake persona… chest bandages…_

_"_ _Anyway, so_ Edeline _, here is going to be back on the team soon," the General began patting Ed on the shoulder with a little bit of too much enthusiasm. "Given that her missions will be more closely related to our own, we thought it would be best if this didn't come out by accident during an important assignment and throw the whole thing off track at a crucial moment. Of course, her identity is still a secret outside of this room."_

The blonde sighed as she remembered the shit-eating grin that had been occupying Mustang's face the whole time. As she rummaged through her coat pocket for some change to pay for the produce that she had picked out, her hand stumbled upon something softer. Pulling it out she noticed it was a small, white, bean-shaped candy of some sorts.  _That's odd._  – she thought. –  _Probably Al slipped it in somewhere along the line…_ He was the more sweet-toothed out of the two of them. _Oh well, it does look good…_  – and she popped in her mouth.

And then spat it out the minute she tasted it. Luckily the fruit stand was out on the street and not inside the shop. The owner lady still looked at the ex-alchemist with a hint of disapproval.

"Eww… it tastes like milk!" Ed muttered to herself as she shuddered.  _Who the hell wants to eat something that tastes like the secretions of a cow?_  "Al is so going to get it if he is behind this!" the blonde huffed under her breath as she paid and stomped back towards the hospital in a much grumpier mood.

* * *

"How did it go?" her younger brother's enthusiastic voice hit her the minute she set foot in his hospital room. He looked at her with big puppy dog eyes eager for information.

"It was fine," Ed sighed. "Brought you some stuff," she added as she placed the bag on the bedside table.

"Thanks," Al pouted as he looked at the fruit. It wasn't that he was ungrateful, but that Ed was evading again. "You didn't really answer the question though."

"What can I say? The bastard was trying to rile me up as usual by being difficult at first, then just went with it. I don't get it why he wants to keep me around…" the blond girl sighed again. "I have to learn guns…"

Then the older Elric sibling looked back towards the door to make sure no one was listening.

"And… I ended up telling them…" she whispered conspiratorially. "You know… that I'm a girl."

"You did?" he looked at her wide-eyed for a minute then beamed at her a megawatt smile that could almost rival the sparkles of Major Armstrong. "I'm so happy for you!" His sister was finally opening up to people! Hopefully, soon they can drop this act altogether!

"Oh, that reminds me…" Ed looked at her brother so seriously that it brought him out of his heavenly daydream at once. "Did you hide a milk flavored candy in my coat pocket on purpose to humor me or what? 'Cause it wasn't funny. Not one bit."

Al stared at her blankly.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," he said finally, completely straight-faced. The ex-alchemist studied his face through narrowed eyes. After a few seconds, she decided he was telling the truth.

"Then how the hell?" Ed muttered under her breath as she furrowed her brows while trying to think of an explanation, but coming up blank. In a similar fashion to when she tried to remember what happened at the Gate. "Ah, never mind," she huffed irritatedly, finally giving up and plopped down in her usual plastic chair by Al's bed in a very unladylike manner. Not that anyone would ever think that she was a lady, even when she wasn't pretending to be a boy.

Alphonse just shook his head at his sister. Ed was now staring out the window. Deep in thought, guessing from the scrunched up expression that she wore on her face.

"I have some news too, Brother…" Al began after a few minutes of silence, Ed turned to him curiously. "The doctor came by while you were gone, it seems that I should be able to leave in about two weeks if all goes well."

"That is great news!" Ed exclaimed a little too loudly and glanced toward the door, but no one bothered to tell them off this time. "I bet you can't wait to go back to Resembool…"

"Yeah… I hope Winry makes some apple pie with Gracia's recipe…" Al trailed off with a longing expression.

"Oh yeah, that was on your list wasn't it?" the Elric girl remembered the list her brother kept while being a suit of armor of the foods he wanted to taste once he got his body back. "What about that quiche Gracia made when the visited the Hughes's?"

"Yes, that too!" he nodded enthusiastically.

"How about I drop by them tomorrow and ask her to make some?" Ed suggested.  _That way I can take a walk again… I hate being cooped up…_

"I don't want to bother Gracia with something like this…" the boy protested vigorously, but deep down he wanted nothing more.

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind," Ed affirmed absentmindedly.  _I haven't visited them since I apologized for getting Maes involved in the conspiracy that got him killed anyway…_

* * *

The next day, Ed was standing in front of the Hughes apartment, hesitating to knock. Yesterday she was so sure about coming, but now she was reluctant.  _What if Gracia hated me? She cried so much after we left last time…_ Taking a deep breath, the ex-alchemist knocked despite her worries.

A few seconds later the dark-blond haired, green-eyed mother opened the door and smiled broadly when she noticed who it was.

"Ed! So nice to see you! Come on in!" Gracia ushered the blonde in. Ed had never told the Hughes about her identity, but she always had a nagging feeling that Gracia's late husband, who used to be an intelligence officer, had known all along and let his wife in on the secret too.

As they entered the living room, a little girl around the age of four came running in with such speed that could rival a racehorse.

"Big Brother Ed!" Elicia screamed as she ran right into Ed's leg, hugging it for her dear life. That would have hurt if it were her left one, so the Elric girl sighed in relief that it wasn't. Clearly the youngest Hughes wasn't aware of such trivial matters as genders and identity.

"Hey there, little princess, you have grown so much!" Ed laughed as she picked the girl up in her arms, who hugged her around the neck the minute she was close enough.

"And you haven't!" Elicia laughed as she let go, making a vein pop on Ed's forehead by the comment, but she controlled herself and let the girl down from her arms instead.

"There, there, Elicia, why don't you go play with your toys in your room?" Gracia tried to diffuse the moment, being very much aware of Ed's short fuse on the short subject.

"Big Brother Ed is coming too!" she started off purposefully towards her room, tugging the older blonde with her. Ed just shrugged to Gracia indicating that she didn't mind and that they would talk later.

"Would you like something to eat?" the mother called after them, being that it was lunchtime soon.

"Damn, almost forgot!" Ed exclaimed as she remembered the initial purpose of the visit.

"Language, please," Gracia interjected calmly, but there was something behind the tone and the smile on her face that had Ed gulping in fear.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I was wondering if you could make the quiche we ate a while back for Al. He has been longing for it ever since."

"Sure do. Now go have fun," Gracia waved them off as she turned to go to the kitchen to begin the preparations.

* * *

A few hours play and cooking later, after they had lunch and Elicia was put down for an afternoon nap, the two could finally sit down and talk.

"Roy called me yesterday. I hear you will be returning to the military," Gracia started the conversation as she sipped her tea.

"That is the plan after Al is back in Resembool. He will be released from the hospital in two weeks," Ed admitted.

"I'm glad he is doing well," the mother nodded with a kind smile.

Silence fell upon them. Ed didn't really know what to say, so she just sat there awkwardly.

"I wanted to give you something," Gracia stood up suddenly going over to the cabinets by the wall, getting out a neat little box.

Sitting back down beside the blond ex-alchemist, she opened it, revealing a set of throwing knives. Ed instantly knew that they were Mr. Hughes's.

"Maes would have wanted you to have them," the widow declared with a hint of melancholy. "Neither of you are much of a guns person."

"I… don't know what to say… I can't accept these, it's too much," Ed stuttered, blushing because of the sentiment.

"Don't be silly, of course, you can accept it," Gracia smiled kindly, placing the box in the girl's lap.

"Are you sure you want to give away these precious memories?" Ed asked as she touched on the knives softly.

"I have absolutely no use for them in the house, besides Maes would have been proud that there was someone to carry them in his memory," she insisted.

"Alright," the blonde relented finally.

A half an hour later Ed waved goodbye cheerfully to mother and daughter as she left the apartment with two boxes – one with the quiche and one with the knives – each representing memories of the times when Mr. Hughes had still been with them.


	5. We are home

It's funny how fast time flies when you're looking forward to something. The promised two weeks to Al's release from the hospital went by as if they didn't even exist in the first place. Fortunately, the younger Elric got over his little cold without a hitch – he claimed it was the result of the delicious quiche that Ed brought him from Gracia – and was able to focus on the physical therapy sessions once more with full force. But despite this positive development, both of the siblings were sitting anxiously at the edge of the hospital bed during the morning visit, looking up expectantly at the doctor, waiting for his final verdict whether Al could go home that day or not. After a few painfully long minutes of anticipation, while Dr. Jackson looked over the charts, he looked up at them to address them.

"Everything seems to be in order," he began but was interrupted by loud and relieved cheers from the siblings as they high-fived each other. Straightening the glasses on the bridge of his nose, the doctor continued. "Of course, you still need to take it slow, Mr. Elric. Keep doing the exercises learned in PT, and avoid too strenuous physical activity for a few more months. I would advise you to use the cane for a few more weeks for walking too."

"Yes, Sir!" Al tried to reply with an earnest expression but the huge smile from the glee he was feeling crept back on his face anyway.  _He was finally able to go home!_

"When you are done packing, come find me in my office for the discharge papers," Dr. Jackson added as he was leaving. It was meant for Ed, knowing full well after the nearly three months the siblings had spent in the hospital that he would be the one taking care of these stuff for his younger brother anyway.

"Should we call Winry?" Al asked over enthusiastically from his sister. He was like a five-year-old on a sugar rush, but Ed knew it wouldn't last long with the condition he was still in.

"Calm down, or you won't even make it to the train station," she jabbed at him teasingly with a smirk. "I think we should surprise her. If we hurry, we might be able to catch the 9 o'clock train and be there by afternoon."

"You know she likes it when you call her in advance instead of popping in unexpectedly," her brother admonished playfully.

"I'm sure she is used to it after all this time… and why change a habit now…" Ed laughed nervously.  _Surely she wouldn't be too mad right? I mean I didn't break my auto-mail this time, and Al is coming home in the flesh!_

"Have it your way," Al shrugged. "Just don't come running to me when she smacks you in the head with her wrench… I can feel those now too."

Realizing that she had lost her shield, her buffer against Winry, a glint of fear sparked in Ed's eyes. Not that Al had ever been able to stop Winry before if she really wanted to exert her fury with the help of a work tool on her, but it was used to be nice knowing that Ed could duck behind him if she saw Winry's attack coming. Shuddering a bit, Ed decided to ignore the comment.

"Anyway, let me help you pack. Just get your stuff from the bathroom," she offered, getting his bag out from the cabinet.

Packing went by in relative silence, with only a few comments here and there whether certain items had been put away already or not, then as predicted Ed ducked out of the room to get the paperwork, telling her brother to stay put to not to overexert himself.

On their way out, Al stopped by the nurse's station to say goodbye to everyone, while the braided blonde tapped her foot impatiently by the door, glancing at the clock on the wall. There wasn't much love lost between her and the hospital staff that was for sure, but they seemed to adore the younger Elric.  _If only they knew how cheeky and sly he could be when he wanted…_  – Ed groaned inwardly.

With the prolonged farewells, they barely made the train even with taking a taxi, and Ed had to run to buy their tickets while Al walked up more slowly to the platform with his cane. Once they boarded, Ed plopped down on the seat on the train with a content sigh, putting her feet up on the bench across from her, and fell asleep almost instantly with her head in her hand, elbow propped by the window. Al rolled his eyes at the unchanging habits of his sister as he sat down by her feet and gazed out the window, studying the people walking up and down on the platform, then after the train departed the scenery of houses then green forests and fields.

"I never realized how uncomfortable these seats were…" Al muttered to himself after the second hour.

"Your ass is just too bony, it won't be so bad if you gain some more weight," the blond ex-alchemist commented with one eye opened to a slit, watching Al, apparently not as deeply asleep as Al had thought earlier.

"Are you trying to tell me to get fat?" her younger brother pouted.

"Not fat per se, but you could use a few extra kilograms… in muscle that is," she laughed out.

"Well, excuse me for not training them for five years while I was stuck at the gate…" he continued but not nearly as upset as before, more like teasing his sister. Ed's expression darkened with guilt and regret at that so to ease the mood Al cracked a smile. "I'm just kidding, and you are right of course. Maybe we could start training together again?"

"Uhm…" Ed started embarrassedly. "About that… I have to come back to Central in two weeks."

"Oh," Al replied dejectedly, realizing that in that time frame they wouldn't be able to get back to their usual sparring just yet.

"I called Mustang while I went to get your discharge papers to inform him. He gave me two more weeks off then I have to report for duty," she explained, quite bummed herself that they wouldn't be able to get a little rough with each other like they used to when they were kids.

"It's okay," the Elric boy smiled good-naturedly. "I wonder if they are going to make you wear a uniform now… I mean you are not a state alchemist anymore, you will be in the official military hierarchy."

"Probably not since women's uniforms are fitted differently than men's, and the whole 'conceal my gender' agenda would be out the window because the men's uniform would look kind of silly on me in places," Ed rationalized in a hushed voice.

"Don't count on that," the blond boy chuckled.

"I'm sure General Bastard can come up with something… Like I'm on undercover missions all the time or something," his older sister waved him off.

"Like that's gonna work… everyone knows your face by now. How are you going to pull off an undercover op?" Al crossed his arms looking at her pointedly.

"I said 'like' I'm on one, not that I'm actually going on one," the braided blonde huffed indignantly. "And besides, let's just leave the details of that to the smug asshole to handle."

* * *

"We are finally here!" both siblings stretched contently after getting off the train at Resembool station, then started their half an hour walk to the Rockbell house. In this case, a little more than that since they had to take a few breaks here and there so that Al could catch his breath. This had been the longest he had walked since getting his body back.

Den's excited barking started up as the family home came into view. Ed could see a blonde taking down the dried laundry from the lines, meaning Winry was outside.

"What's got you so riled up?" the mechanic asked her dog in a loving voice, scratching behind his ear once she was finished, then when the pet wouldn't stop she glanced up towards the road leading up to the house and spotted her childhood friends approaching.

Her eyes widened, and her face lit up with a huge grin as she dropped her laundry basket on the grass and started running towards them.

"Welcome home, you dummies!" she yelled with joy as she lunged herself at the siblings, effectively knocking them down to the ground.

Al winced a little at the pain of the landing but made sure that neither of the girls could see his discomfort.

"Alright, alright, Winry, we get it! You missed us, now let us get up!" Ed half-whined as she sat up, rubbing the back of her head.

The blond mechanic let them stand up, helping Al up with one hand, then took a good look at him from an arm's length.

"You look so much better now, almost back to your old self," she commented with a small smile.

"Thanks, I'm getting there!" he laughed awkwardly. He wasn't all that happy yet with his general physique at this point.

"Come on in! Granny must be psychic or something, she is making stew for dinner tonight," Winry chimed happily as they trotted back towards the house.

She picked the basket back up and started up the stairs but noticed that the Elrics weren't following. Al stood in front of Den who was looking at him funnily as if not entirely sure who he was.

"It's me, Al," he said softly, and as soon as the words left his mouth the dog's ears perked up with recognition barked happily and jumped at the boy in excitement, almost knocking him over again in a similar fashion his owner had done not five minutes earlier. Fortunately, Ed steadied him before he could fall on his backside again.

"Look who I found outside," the blond mechanic announced to her grandmother once they made it inside.

"I see Ed you still haven't grown much," Pinako commented in her snarky teasing tone.

"You are supposed to say 'wow, how tall you have gotten'!" Ed snapped at the old lady, completely used to their usual bickering.

"Lying about it will just set you up for disappointments, midget!" she admonished backhandedly as she turned back to the stove to stir the pot of stew.

"Who are you calling a midget, you miniature hag!"

"Big talk from someone as small as a bean."

"You are one to talk, you are so short you are two-dimensional!"

"Okay, that's enough!" Winry stepped in having had enough with the banter. "Ed, take up your stuff to the guest room, will you?" she practically ordered her, pointing towards the stairs.

"Sorry about her, you know how she gets," Al apologized after his sister stomped off with their luggage, more to Winry. He knew very well that Pinako enjoyed these little screaming contests between them. It was a joke to her.

"Have a seat, Al, you like you are about to collapse," Pinako offered kindly, placing a cup of tea in front of him.

"It's been a long day that's for sure!" the younger Elric joked, but to tell the truth, he was exhausted. Sipping the tea, his eyes went wide. "You still remember how I like my tea!"

"Don't be silly, I practically raised you siblings, of course, I remember," Pinako answered coolly as she puffed on her pipe.

"Oh, I just remembered!" Winry exclaimed suddenly, slamming her fist into the palm of her other hand. "I promised you guys Gracia's apple pie when you came home!"

"Bet you did!" Ed affirmed with a laugh as the mechanic reappeared in the kitchen.

"Then you can go and make yourself useful by picking the apples for it in the backyard!" the blue-eyed blonde snapped playfully, already making herself busy in the kitchen to prepare the ingredients for the pie crust.

"Hai, hai," the older Elric replied grabbing a basket from the pantry to collect the apples in and was out the door in an instant.

"Is something up with her?" Winry asked Al in confusion. "She didn't even protest."

"Something has been bugging her ever since she came back from the Gate," he replied, glancing at the door his sister just left through, sipping the tea. "She went as far as joining the military for real this time."

"WHAT?" Winry shrieked in surprise.

* * *

Summer was always lovely in Resembool and today wasn't an exception either. It was so warm that Ed took her coat off and threw it on the ground at the base of the tree she was about to go climb upon. As she stood there, she took a minute to look at her bare arms. It was still weird to see both them made of flesh, her right still a bit leaner than the left, but she was working on building the muscle back up to match the other.

Holding the basket with her teeth, she jumped up to reach the lowest branch and climbed up a few more to get to the riper ones. She barely settled herself on one of the branches and started picking off apples when…

"Edeline Marianne Elric!" the loud voice of none other than Winry made her jump, thus losing her balance on the branch.  _And she was using her full name… this wasn't good…_

Only her superb reflexes and agility saved her from crashing right down on the grass below since she managed to catch one of the lower branches with one hand and even the basket with the other.

"Fuck, Winry, a little warning next time? What did I do now to get you so worked up?" she asked once she managed to pull herself back up on the branch.

"When were you going to tell me that you are not planning on staying?" the mechanic accused furiously, her eyes throwing daggers, and Ed bet that if she were to have come from anywhere other than the kitchen, she would have been throwing wrenches too. Lucky that she didn't have a knife on her either.

"Damn you, Al, why can't keep your mouth shut for like five minutes?" Ed muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" the other blonde questioned seethingly, apparently not in the mood to put up with any crap from the tiny ex-alchemist.

"Nothing. Look, can we talk about this once we are inside?" the golden-eyed girl pleaded.

"Fine," Winry huffed after a few seconds of staring ever so madly at Ed, then turned around and stomped her way back into the house, slamming the door shut so loudly behind her that Ed was surprised none of the windows shattered.

* * *

Ed returned to the kitchen a few minutes later where Winry was working on the pie in silence, not even looking up at her as she entered, or thanking her for the apples as she set them down on the counter for her. The mechanic didn't say a word, just took them and began washing and slicing them up for the filling. The tension was palpable in the room.

After the preparations were ready and the blond mechanic put the pie in the oven for baking, she turned to Ed.

"Workshop. Now. I want to check on your leg," she announced in a clipped tone and stormed out, not waiting for an answer. Ed followed cautiously.

"Take off your pants," Winry ordered once they reached their destination. "Sit."

_What am I a dog?_ – Ed groaned to herself. –  _Well, actually I am… the dog of the military… but still…_

The ex-alchemist complied, and the mechanic started her thing, checking every bolt and plate whether they were in order. After a few minutes, she spoke up, in a softer manner this time.

"I sent those red auto-mail plates that I took off when you came back to Mr. Garfiel in Rush Valley," she stated as a matter of fact. "He got back to me a few weeks ago. Neither he nor any mechanic he knows has ever seen that type of material, like ever, much less used in auto-mail."

Ed didn't know what to say to that.

"They were able to identify it after a lot of hard work and with the help of an alchemist…" Winry continued but was interrupted by the other blonde.

"It's a titanium-gold alloy," the ex-alchemist commented absentmindedly.

"How…?" the blue-eyed girl was stunned for a second, but then she remembered who she was speaking to. "Never mind," she smiled to herself.

"I know you are angry with me for not staying long," Ed tried to address the elephant in the room. "But I only have two weeks off and I rather not spend it fighting."

"Oh, the way Al said it I thought you were leaving like tomorrow, just dropping him off," Winry let out a laugh at the revelation.

"Seems like I gotta have a few words with my little brother…" Ed sighed, not really angry with Al, just frustrated by the unnecessary fight.

"Why did you decide to go back to the military? I thought you wanted to get rid of them as soon as you could," she probed further as she worked on the metal leg.

"I did," the braided blonde answered curtly. "But I feel like I'm not the same person I was when I went to get Al's body back. There is so much more I could give. I mean, sure we managed to do some good along the way before too, but we were driven by our selfish desire to restore our bodies."

"What happened… you know… there?" Winry questioned, looking up at the golden orbs staring back at her.

"I have absolutely no idea," she sighed. "But I have obviously paid with my memories for whatever dumb shit I managed to get myself into."

Neither of them spoke for a few minutes as Winry finished up with the maintenance.

"Sometimes I do get these weird afterthoughts though. Like if subconsciously my body and soul remember what my mind can't recall. I feel this emptiness inside me like I'm forgetting something, someone,  _someones_. Like I left friends behind. I just feel like I can't leave my friends in the military behind yet," Ed tried to explain her reasons for deciding to go back to Central.

"Thank you for telling me," the mechanic smiled up at the smaller blonde. Honestly, she had always been a little resentful that the siblings never told her anything about what was going on in their lives and she was grateful that this cycle seemed to have broken by this confession.

"Don't make such a big deal out of it," the golden-eyed girl huffed with a considerable blush creeping up on her face as she looked away.


	6. Goodbyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kind of fragmented, just tidbits from here and there, I have a specific end game in mind so there will be more time skips to come to get to that.

After that heartfelt talk with Winry, Ed tried to busy herself with the things she would have to get done before leaving. Like visiting her mother's grave.

As she reached the spot to set the fresh bouquet of flowers on it, she noticed another headstone right by its side. Van Hohenheim's.

"Well, that confirms it," she looked at it grimly. Somewhere deep inside, she had known all along that he had passed away. At least Trisha was finally reunited with him, not having to wait any longer, after all those years she had spent looking at the road longingly.

A few minutes later, Pinako appeared by her side puffing smoke from her ever-present pipe.

"I found him sitting by her grave, dead, about two days after the solar eclipse," Granny commented nonchalantly as she let out a smoky breath. "I buried him beside her. I'm sure Trisha would have wanted it this way too."

"Sure," Ed nodded disinterestedly. She still wasn't entirely over how crappy her father had been, but ever since the fight with father… after the way he had protected them, then had offered his life for Al's – even if she would have never taken it – she had mixed feelings about him.

"What a weird day that was… everyone had collapsed for a few minutes," the tiny woman continued.

Ed just hummed in agreement, not really wanting to dwell on the fucked up shit that went down on that day.

* * *

Ed thought she was going to have a peaceful, relaxing two weeks to spend with family before she was sent back into the fray. But then something happened. On their fourth morning back home she woke up to her bed colored red with blood between her legs.

The sight was so shocking and unexpected at first that she let a strangled yell – not a scream, definitely not a  _scream_  because even she  _was_  a girl there was no fucking way that the Fullmetal Alchemist would scream like a little girl. In the next second, she instantly regretted it too.

Being the child genius that she was and thanks to the many months they had spent studying the human body for their transmutation with her brother, Ed knew exactly that she had just started her period, even if this was her first one at the ripe age of almost seventeen. It seemed it wasn't only her growth that had been stunted by the fact that she had been sustaining two bodies for five years through their shared Gate with Al. Talk about late blooming.

Alarmed by her cry out, Winry burst into the room, Al following a little bit slower soon after, only to be met with a pillow to his face.

"Get out!" Ed shrieked at him. There were just things you  _don't_  share with your little brother, no matter what. Al sheepishly left the room.

"Uhm… let me get you some tampons and pantyliners," Winry offered as she assessed the situation.

Edeline just flopped back onto the bed, resigning to her fate as a woman and thanked Truth that this hadn't happened during all those years they had spent roaming the country, trying to find a way to restore their bodies. It must have been the stress.

She spent the next few days wringing in agony as her uterus lining decided to peel itself off.

"How do you deal with this?" the ex-alchemist looked up at Winry from her curled up position on the couch.

"Hitting someone with my wrench helps a lot," she admitted nonchalantly.

Ed just let out a little whimper at the thought of the many years of abuse her head had to suffer…

* * *

One day – when the wretched shark week was finally over – while the golden-eyed girl chopped up some wood for the Rockbells, she began humming a song that had been lurking at the edge of her consciousness.

_I wish that I could turn back time_

_And spare the pain that we both feel…_

It seemed familiar like she had heard it before, but she had no idea where.

_I promise you, I'd go everywhere I've been_

_To find a way to make atonement for my sin and see_

_See your smiling face again…_

"Are you writing another one?" Al's voice brought her out of her little bubble. She hadn't even realized she said the words out loud.

"Not really," Ed shrugged it off as she gave another swing to the block of wood in front of her.

"Please tell me you are not going on another guilt trip over me," he frowned, leaning on his cane as he watched his sister do all the manly work around the house, wishing he had been up to strength already to take over.

"Is that what I've been doing?" the ex-alchemist furrowed her brows.

"What else would you call willingly crossing over to another world, not knowing if you could ever make it back just so that I can have my body back?" Al commented in a clipped tone.

"What do you remember from that time we were at the Gate?" Ed quietly asked, putting away everything around her.

"Just that, you negotiating with Truth, not being able to trade your alchemy, then being sent off through another, different Gate. Then you turn up three days later, dressed and looking weird, and quite frankly older," her brother stated the facts they had been avoiding talking about for months.

"Well, that's all I remember too," she whispered, disheartened by the fact that she was worrying him again.

"Aren't you at least a bit curious?" Al snapped at her with a ferocity that rarely left his mouth even when he was a scary looking suit of armor.

"Just drop it, Al!" Ed snarled, getting frustrated with everyone pushing her to regain something that was clearly not needed for her current life, even if it left her feeling empty inside.

"I'm going to Xing," he exclaimed with resolve shining in his eyes.

"Yes, I know…" the blond girl quirked a brow at him, trying to figure at what he was getting at.

"And I will find a way to get your memories back," Al finished with a huge grin and such innocence it would have made Ed laugh if she wasn't extremely terrified of that idea.

"Oh, please, don't. I don't want you to getting into something dangerous again," her frown deepened.

"Hah, make me!" he laughed at her whole-heartedly, knowing full well that once she was gone on her missions with the military and he had left the country, Ed would have absolutely no power over him and what he did.

"You little…" Ed shook her fist and launched at him playfully, tackling to the ground where they rolled around giggling as she tickled him mercilessly.

* * *

A day before her leave was over, Ed got a call from Mustang to meet him at Resembool train station the next day at 9 AM sharp. It seemed she wasn't going back to Central after all. The only instructions were that she was to show up in her usual clothing, red coat and all.

Winry and Al decided to see her off given that the timing was weird. There were no trains scheduled for that day. All that confusion was cleared up once they saw the Brigadier General leaning against a military issued car in the almost non-existent parking area by the station.

"You are late, Fullmetal," Mustang snapped at Ed.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, you should be used to it by now," the blonde ex-alchemist waved her hand dismissively.

"Ms. Hawkeye isn't here?" Winry looked around in disappointment. She was kind of wishing to see the lieutenant again.

"No, the Captain is waiting for us back in Ishval," Mustang confirmed with his all too familiar expressionless gaze.  _Man, I could punch him in the face sometimes…_  – Ed groaned inwardly.

"Ishval?" Winry and Al exclaimed at the same time, looking back and forth between the two of them. Their blond friend just shrugged.

"Let's get going, Fullmetal, we don't have all day," Roy sighed in a clipped tone, opening his door, while Ed made her way around to the passenger side, waving her goodbye to her brother and Winry.

Once they were on the road, she leaned her elbow against the window, taking in the scenery.

"So what's the big plan?" she asked in a thoroughly bored fashion. "I'm going to be your show pony for the reconstruction?"

For a moment she froze at her own comment then burst out laughing uncontrollably. Mustang just glanced at her taken aback.

"What is so funny?" he asked, keeping his eyes trained on the road.

"I have no idea, but anything about you and horses is just damn hilarious!" Ed managed to breathe as she leaned back against the headrest.

Roy got severely ticked off by the comment, clutching the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white.

"You trying to get on one would be a much more ridiculous scene…" Mustang muttered under his breath.

"Who are you calling so short they wouldn't be able to get on a horse, you bastard?" the blonde yelled in pure outrage.

He just smiled slyly, getting comfortable with the familiarity of their banters. Seriously, he had missed this in the last several months.

"So what's with the requested clothing? Not gonna make me wear a uniform?" Ed finally asked.

"They still don't make it in your size…" Roy answered automatically, earning himself a death glare. "Actually, you are still officially a State Alchemist since I was able to pull some strings with Grumman, so technically if you are not back in the official line of command, you are free to mill around in your usual clothes. It also helps with your recognizability, which we sure could use right about now."

"So I  _am_  your show pony after all," she huffed.

"You do have a reputation as the People's Alchemist, and many Ishvalans trust you after the things that had gone down around the Promised Day. We can use all the support we can get," the Brigadier General clarified his point.

"You mean you could use all the support you can get to climb up the ladder to Führer," the golden-eyed girl huffed.

"Once we are done here and back in Central you will be required to take part in some research projects to keep up that cover too," he added without dignifying Fullmetal's comment with an answer.

"Much good will it do if I can't use alchemy," Ed rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms.

"Ever heard of theoretical research?" the raven-haired man glanced to his side at his passenger.

The blond ex-alchemist just sighed heavily.  _This isn't exactly what I signed up for…_

* * *

Those few months in Ishval flew by in a jiffy. Much to her surprise even Scar and Major Miles made an appearance a couple of times. Ed's duties ranged from sitting in on negotiations to actually going out onto the streets, picking up the mortar bucket and helping with the construction. Good thing it was the brink of the fall season. Otherwise, it would have been hard keeping her gender a secret under the harsh blaze of the sun.

Once their departure back to Central was in sight, Ed dropped a letter to Al and the Rockbells to tell them where she would be most likely to be found from then on.

Her brother wrote back informing her that he was ready to head off on his journey to the East, asking if they could meet up in East City since Central would be a little bit too out of the way for him. Just in time too, because they were about to leave. She was dropped off in East City with orders to meet them in Central in no more than three days' time.

The siblings' reunion at the train station the next day was a rather emotional one. They hugged each other for a long while before turning to speak.

"Say hi to Mei and Ling for me, okay?" Ed started with a shaky breath.

"Will do," Al smiled down at his sister kindly. It seemed he had gained another two inches in this short amount of time which seriously pissed his sister off who was forever the same height.

"You are going through the Xerxes ruins, right?" she asked earnestly.

"Sure, why?" he frowned at his sister's expression.

"I know it's badly fragmented, but destroy the remainder of the transmutation circle there, just in case. You will recognize it once you see it," that was all the ex-alchemist had to offer as an explanation for Al to know exactly what she was talking about and nod with equal determination.

After another hug, he got on the train headed to Youswell, while Ed waited for the one to Central.


	7. Weapon of choice

"The process of alchemy, if you think about it, is pretty simple – comprehension, deconstruction, reconstruction. What no one ever talks about is the aptitude, talent required to recognize and manipulate the physical objects with natural energy," Edeline tried to lay out the basis of her research project to the group scientists and alchemist who were assigned to her.

"We know that Amestrian alchemy utilizes diastrophic energy that is released from the movement and collision of tectonic plates deep within the planet's crust to power transmutation. Meanwhile alkahestry from Xing is centered on a concept called the 'Dragon's Pulse' which speaks of the Earth itself having a constant flow of chi (life energy) which flows metaphorically from the tops of mountains down to the land, nourishing everything it passes with that energy as does blood coursing through the veins," she continued sketching up the two concepts on the board. Her drawing was as bad as ever, especially when she depicted the dragon's pulse with an actual dragon that had horns and everything.

"So what makes someone capable of manipulating this energy? Alchemy requires a full understanding of chemistry, physics and ancient alchemical theory, but not all people can become competent alchemists merely by studying. So what is the source of that inherent talent for manipulating matter and energy? Hereditary traits, genetics? That's what this project is set out to find out," the ex-alchemist concluded her monologue.

When absolutely no feedback came, she sighed and spoke up again.

"Any questions?" the blonde asked.

No one had any. Mixed emotions could be seen on the faces of the people in the room. Awe, admiration that the famed Fullmetal Alchemist was going to be conducting a research project with them. Confusion as to the age and height of said alchemist. Shock at his – as they had no idea she was actually a girl – sense of style and absolutely lack of drawing skills.

Yeah, she could see all that etched clearly in the expressions of the people in front of her, but she decided to ignore it.

"Okay, planning meeting to set up hypothesizes and the methodology that we are going to use to prove or disprove them tomorrow at 0900," Fullmetal clapped her hands together to signal that everyone was free to leave.

As the room cleared out, she noticed Mustang leaning against the back wall. It seemed he had come down to Lab 3 to listen to the kick off too.

"What do you want, bastard?" Ed muttered to him as she put her notepads and stuff away. "I was coming to your office after this anyway."

"Oh, nothing, just interesting idea," Roy smirked at her smugly.

"Shut up, you put me up to this. And this at least requires minimal actual alchemy to be performed, at least on my part, which I can have some of the others do," the ex-alchemist huffed.

She would have loved to take part in this personally too, not just supplying the intellectual foundation and idea, like coming up with the tasks the participants will have to do to test their level of alchemical knowledge and abilities that then they can compare to what their ancestors or descendants can do. This will prove to be a very long-running project anyway, who knows how long she will be actually required to be on the team of researchers.

"You could always test if height has anything to do with alchemical aptitude too. Maybe because you are closer to the planet's core, you can use its energy better," he snickered, unable to restrain himself.

"You know that has absolutely nothing to do with it, dammit!" Edeline screeched at the top of her lungs as she stomped past him to get back to HQ.

* * *

"Is this really necessary?" the small blonde dubiously looked at the set of disassembled guns in front of her. They had already gone through the theoretical knowledge on firearms, their parts, proper handling, and safety, but when it came to actually touching one Ed would always chicken out, so Riza prepared this task to move her along.

"I recall you promising the General that you will become proficient with it," Hawkeye commented with a small smile as they sat at a table at the shooting range. "That entails also learning to clean and maintain your weapons."

"You do realize I was sort of humoring the bastard. You know as well as I do that guns and I don't mix," Ed recalled that one time when the then lieutenant left her with a gun in the forest. She never ended up using it because she just felt too uncomfortable. After a trip to Gluttony's stomach, it was returned unused to the sniper in front of her. Then again, Fullmetal still had her alchemy at the time. She let out a heavy sigh knowing full well that this was inevitable if she wanted to be useful.

"Let's just start with the basics and then we can build up to actually firing it," Riza tried to reason with her co-worker in her understanding yet no-nonsense attitude that usually carried herself with around the teenager.

"Oooor… I could just use the knives Gracia gave me," Ed hummed, actually contemplating the idea, her mind going back and forth between being determined on actually handling guns and shying away from them.

Edeline had already equipped herself with sheaths on her forearms from which she can pop the throwing knives into her hands with a flick of her wrists, and practiced in most of her spare time to be able to actually use them efficiently. It took some getting used to – compared to her auto-mail blade that she always transmuted back in the day – but she was learning fast.

"That won't do you much good in long range fights," the Captain stated nonchalantly as she focused on meticulously cleaning her own handgun.

"I always liked to just get in the middle of things…" the golden-eyed blonde huffed as if that was a reasonable excuse, but she grudgingly began the process herself anyway. The last thing she wanted was the gun to jam on her when she really needed it and had no other option. Plus Hawkeye wouldn't always be around to baby Ed through the process of maintenance. This was the least off-putting step of the whole thing anyway.

Riza just smiled to herself with a little shake of her head. It seemed the Elric girl had actually paid attention all along despite her protests because she was doing a mighty fine job of cleaning then reassembling the firearm in front of her. She made sure the girl practiced it a couple more times with actually disassembling it too.

* * *

"Your feet should be shoulder-width apart," Hawkeye instructed Ed as she stood in front of the target at the shooting range, correcting her stance. "Left foot a step ahead of your right. Lean forward slightly with your knees bent, making sure you're firmly balanced."

It has taken them a few weeks to get the blond ex-alchemist to the point of actually being able to comfortably pick up a loaded gun, and this was finally the day when she was going to shoot it.

"Basically like a fight stance," Ed mused as she bent her knees a little too far.

"Almost. You don't need to crouch that low as if you are trying to jump your target," Riza chuckled a bit as Ed came back up. "Okay, right elbow almost straight left one should be flexed at a slightly obtuse angle, hand cupped under your other hand and the butt of the gun."

"I think I got the hang of it," the younger team member stated as she cradled the mock plastic gun.

"Let's practice aiming," the Captain continued as she handed Ed her the actual gun. "Right arm in line with the handgun and pointed at the target. Good. Ensure that the top of the front sight post is level with the top of the rear sight and that the rear sight appears evenly centered within the notch of the front sight. After leveling the handgun and ensuring your firearm is aimed correctly, you will need to focus on the target…"

After a few more minutes of explaining Ed took a final breath, steadied her aim and began firing at the target. It wasn't half bad for a first try. All of them actually hit the mark, fairly well in one group even if not in the dead center.

Neither of them knew at that moment, but the ex-alchemist was to become one of the best shooters in the army beside the Hawk's Eye. Nonetheless, she would still prefer her knives on any given day.

* * *

_Time skip – 3 years later after a wild night out…_

Having Winry and Al visiting in Central was a nice novelty and change for once from the monotonous daily routine of the office. Ed hadn't seen them in years. The setting could have been different and less embarrassing on her part but that was sort of unavoidable given her recent promotion to Lieutenant Colonel and the night of celebrations Mustang had sprung on her unexpectedly.

More surprisingly Winry had agreed to move to Central to be closer to Ed. She wasn't quite sure yet what that had meant regarding their relationship, but the blond mechanic had already left, right after a late lunch, to catch the last train to Rush Valley to make arrangements to move her business up to Central. Then she was going to head back to Resembool to break the news to Granny Pinako and get her personal belongings from there too. In a couple of weeks she would be around so much that Ed would get sick of her – at least that's what she had promised.

"Nice place you have…" Al commented as they finally entered Ed's apartment in the late afternoon after – at least partially – getting over that hangover at Roy's.

"Yeah, a major's paycheck can go a long way when you don't really have to worry about travel expenses or auto-mail repair costs," she muttered as she glanced back at her brother who was busy looking around in the living room. The fact that she wasn't the one who actually came up with the interior design helped a bunch with the general outlook of the place too.

"You really haven't broken it all these years?" the younger Elric's eyes went wide.

"Nope," the ex-alchemist laughed, scratching the back of her head. "Sorry, make yourself at home," she added once she saw that Al was still standing unsurely by the door.

"So that's why you haven't seen Winry ever since that two-week leave. She wrote to me complaining about that, you know," Al sulked at being the go-between in this lover's quarrel his sister wasn't even aware that she was having with the mechanic.

"Well, if she had  _maybe_  written something about that in the letters she sent to the person it actually concerned, then  _maybe_  something could have been done about that…" Ed pouted as she flopped down on her couch, Al soon following.

"So are you two going out now?  _Finally_?" he chuckled, looking thoroughly amused once his sister turned beet red.

"Ah… I… have absolutely no idea what you are talking about," she deflected, averting her eyes as she scratched her chin.

"Come on, she is moving to Central… that ought to mean something," her brother pushed on unrelenting, wanting all the juicy details of their heartfelt talk that surely had taken place during Ed's auto-mail checkup since both girls emerged from the room looking immensely calmer. Winry's behavior could have been described even as giddy.

"Nothing happened, okay? I just said that I was sorry and that I would like her to stay and that was all…" Ed burst out suddenly, all flustered.

"No more kissing then?" he teased with an all-knowing smirk.

"Oh, shut up!" the smaller blonde threw a pillow right in his face while becoming all flustered at the images she recalled from last night.

Once they calmed down Ed began to question Al about his time in Xing, what he had seen, how their friend's been, especially Mei after the blush her little brother managed to produce at the mention of the tiny alkahastress.

"So am I going to be an aunt soon?" it was her turn to tease now.  _Payback time!_  The reaction she got was nothing she expected though. Although going all sorts of brilliant shades of red, he didn't deny anything vehemently. "No freaking way!" Ed exclaimed at the revelation that her little brother wasn't a virgin anymore. "How old is Mei again? She was like eleven when we first met her…" she did the head calculations. Al was nineteen now.  _Was that even legal for him to get it on with a sixteen-year-old?_  Xing laws were said to be stricter on this than the Amestrian ones.

"She was thirteen. Only a year younger than me," Al deadpanned. "Before you jump to conclusions, she is not pregnant, we are being careful."

"I bet you are…" d sipped on the tea that she had prepared for them in the meantime, a little irritatedly.  _Al was the taller, the more patient, well-mannered, and innocent one… yet he lost his virginity before me… or maybe that was exactly why… it was always the ones you would least suspect._

"That reminds me," he changed the subject quickly. No matter the close bond, sharing the secrets of your sex life with your sister was just plain weird. "I think I found a way to get your alchemy back."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to read about that wild night out, check out 'Change of heart' :)
> 
> Nice cliffhanger isn't it? Don't worry I won't leave you hanging for long.


	8. Food for thought

“Before you freak out on me, Sister, let me explain!” Al preemptively stated in a calming manner when Ed’s face first froze then switched to a terrifying glare, one she usually reserved for people who royally pissed her off with the dangerous territories they ventured into regarding alchemy.

He knew exactly what was at stake and what was running through her mind. Her alchemy was traded for his body – even if not directly – and for her return from wherever she went so if in some way that deal was reversed like the deal about his soul and her right arm that could very well mean detrimental results for one or both of them.

“Al…” his sister hissed warningly. “What the hell did you do?”

“Nothing, honestly nothing,” he waved his hands in front of him.

“Good then let it stay that way. I’m _fine_ without alchemy. I have gotten used to it. Fuck, I even went and learned to use a gun. Guns, in the multiple, to be more precise. And rifles and all that stuff that I never ever wanted to touch, but I did it anyway because it was a necessity. _This_ is not a necessity. Not when it could put you in harm’s way again,” Ed ranted all in one breath, clearly upset.

“Just hear me out okay? It’s not what you think!” the younger Elric reasoned and went on with his story before the more temperamental blonde decided to blow up. “In Xing, I studied alkahestry with Mei, the Dragon’s Pulse…”

“Yes, you wrote me in great lengths about those, we even used the concepts in the research project, what of it?” her patience was running thin already, her mind reeling with the crazy ideas that her brother might have come up with.

“Well, we sort of accidentally found out that this constant flow of chi could be transferable between people…” he continued gingerly.

“Accidentally?” Ed raised a brow. Nothing about alchemy was accidental, it required the conscious guidance of energy with one’s mind.

“Okay, not quite accidentally, we were experimenting with tantra…” Al went beet red.

“Oh, geez, I don’t want to know!” she caught on to his train of thought quickly and shied away from those images with a contorted face. _I sooo don’t want to know the details of my_ little _brother’s sex life!_

“Just the idea that joining one’s energies could be applied to alchemy was accidental on my part… Anyway, in a nutshell, it is possible to use someone else’s Gate to power a transmutation,” he blurted out finally with a big breath leaving him.

“What?” the ex-alchemist blinked in confusion.

“Maybe it is easier if I show you. Come,” Al motioned for her to come closer. “Hold my wrists,” he instructed. “Clap my hands together then think of the alchemical reaction you want to do…”

Edeline looked at him dubiously. “How is this supposed to work?”

“Well, you still have the knowledge of how alchemy works, the arrays, the physics and chemistry of elements, right?” her brother explained enthusiastically.

“Right…” she still wasn’t convinced.

“Just try it, do everything you normally would, the only difference is that you are using my Gate instead of your own for the source of energy,” the younger Elric implored with those puppy dog eyes no one could deny anything from. God, she missed that suit armor sometimes, although by some miracle he was able to pull this on her even in that form. Especially if it was something to do with cats.

“Fine,” Ed relented finally, grabbing Al’s wrists, clapping this hands together then bringing them to the metal tray she had used to carry the tea in, imagining a little birdcage with a moving birdie in it. The very familiar array of metal manipulation flashed through Al’s mind as his sister drew the energy through for the transmutation and he smiled inwardly. That was just so _Ed_. Whether it was simple or not – and thus something easily experimented with – he should have guessed that would be the first thing she would reach for when given a chance.

Much to her surprise it actually worked. She was even more bewildered by the images that flickered through her mind while the alchemic reaction took place. Large, metal structure buildings reaching towards the sky. A man in a full, red-gold armor suit. Another guy, blue-eyed and taller, with a kind smile. Some sort of castle on a lake shore, a boy with a lightning scar on his forehead. They were way too fast for her to make any sense of them though.

“How do you know it wasn’t your doing?” the ex-alchemist frantically clapped her hands together trying to undo her creation to see if maybe by some miracle she was able to do it on her own again, but of course, that wasn’t the case. In some sense that was a relief.

“Only you would come up with that design,” her brother pointed at the horns that adorned the top of the cage.

“And this worked with Mei too?” the blond girl inquired, already thinking of the ways this new method could be used.

“Not the clapping part, she has never been to the Gate, so circleless alchemy was out of the question when she was doing it, but we tried it with alchemy and alkahestry circles too. Both ways,” he confirmed with a huge grin.

“But you could do the transmutation by clapping her hands together?” she questioned further.

“Yes. Not very practical in most cases, I know. It’s easier to just do it myself, but you came to my mind instantly when we first did it successfully. I didn’t write you about it because I didn’t want to get your hopes up if it didn’t work in your case,” Al added meekly.

“No, it’s fine. Wouldn’t want this info to accidentally get in the wrong hands anyway…” Ed trailed off. “Did you see anything odd while doing these… ‘indirect’ transmutations?”

“You mean the array you used? That yes. We actually found this a very effective method of teaching each other new circles with Mei. Especially from me since I could just clap, not having to draw them down and still have it somehow stored away in her memory. She could draw it up and use it perfectly afterward,” the taller blonde chirped happily but then frowned when he caught Ed’s facial expression shift, indicating it was something entirely different she had meant.

She had evidently seen something, whereas they hadn’t experienced any sort of side effects with his Xingese girlfriend when either of them was leading the transmutation.

“Ugh, never mind,” the ex-alchemist shook her head since she couldn’t quite grasp any of the images enough to explain them to her brother. “Anyway, let’s reverse this mess,” she pointed at the former tray.

Al was about to clap and do it himself given that there was apparently something different going on and he didn’t want to risk it, but Ed stopped him and insisted on trying out this new revelation again anyway. Same as last time all sorts of images went through her head, more people and locations she couldn’t quite put a name on or place. Yet they seemed familiar like she should be able to tell.

“Do you think this only works with people you have a close bond with? Do you have to consciously let me use your Gate?” Edeline mused, her inner scientist already trying to work out the mechanics of the process.

“I’m not sure. I’m not resisting you that is for certain, but I’m not thinking about giving you actual permission to do it,” Al frowned because he wasn’t exactly sure where his sister was going with this.

“Another thing, who is performing the transmutation? The one thinking it up or the one whose Gate is being used? If there is a rebound…” she thought further getting less and less happy with the implications of her line of thought.

“What are you thinking about, Sister?” the younger Elric inquired a bit frightened by the grim expression she wore now.

“Pride and Mustang,” Ed stated simply, but then went on to elaborate. “He specifically stated that Pride forced him to open the Gate when he got dumped in Father’s room while you were still unconscious. Now, we know homunculi can’t perform alchemy, Pride was only able to do it because he absorbed Kimblee, right?”

“Kimblee didn’t know how to do human transmutations though, did he?” Al interrupted.

“Who knows, but that is really beside the point. There was that other gold-toothed guy too. The one who helped in creating Wrath? He pulled us through the Gate to Father’s room, so he must have had knowledge of human transmutation. Pride probably absorbed him too. But the real question is: The mechanics of what went down between them during that transmutation. Was Mustang really forced to open the Gate essentially by another alchemist, so the homunculi already knew what you just discovered? Or was he just brought along in a similar fashion like you were in our failed attempt because he was touching the array too?” the ex-alchemist thought out loud as she got up from the couch to pace in her living room, obviously too riled up to sit still.

“Is there really a difference?” he sighed heavily as he followed the jittery former alchemist with his eyes through the room.

“Of course there is. The rebound always falls back on the one performing the transmutation,” his sister looked at him pointedly.

“I see,” Al hummed finally in understanding a bit slapping himself mentally for not catching on sooner. He should have known this, but it was always Ed whose mind was faster in all things alchemy related even if Al was almost as capable himself too. “The dynamic is different. If it’s a co-transmutation, then both participants bear the risks the same. But Mustang lost his sight…”

“Human transmutation is a special case because the Gate gets opened. No matter if willing or not there is a toll, but given that Mustang’s blindness was cured with the Philosopher’s Stone we can safely say that there was something different about it, since it should only be reversible through equivalent exchange with the Gate. The Philosopher’s Stone could be offered as payment of course, but that is still a human transmutation, whereas simple medical alchemy, with or without the use of a Stone is not, the effects just get enhanced,” she reasoned but in all honesty she had no idea how the bastard’s sight was actually restored. They have never discussed it, all she knew was that Dr. Marcoh and the Philosopher’s Stone was involved, not the actual arrays the doctor may or may not have used.

“I’m pretty sure Pride only survived that because he was a homunculus and even he was in a pretty bad shape afterward. I don’t see how forcing anyone to perform human transmutation through this method would be beneficial for anyone, if that’s what you are worried about,” the younger Elric countered. He loved a good debate about alchemy as much as his sister did. _God, I missed these…_ – he thought as he got more and more in his element.

“Okay, but what if you trick an alchemist into using your Gate who has knowledge of human transmutation but is not aware of the power dynamics difference between the two scenarios in which it could be performed? The one performing the transmutation almost definitely dies, but the other probably comes through with minor losses, curable with a Philosopher’s Stone, and now he has seen the Gate so is capable of circleless alchemy, whereas in the normal transmutation probably neither would survive, or come out seriously damaged. The shift in risk can be exploited,” Ed explained animatedly, with wild hand gestures as she got more agitated.

“You should seriously be writing crime novels or something,” Al had to smile at the other blonde’s way of breaking down things despite the seriousness of the topic. She was always first to see the more sinister side of things that was for sure.

“I might be wrong, but let’s keep this between us. Just to be safe until I can somehow find out if what Pride did is based on the same principle, or if he had been able to force it because he was a homunculus or Mustang’s case is just a fluke, and he got off lucky.”

On that note, she stormed over to the kitchen to reheat some leftovers to eat because she was _starving_. Having a queasy stomach all day had left her with not eating too much but that has now caught up with her.

They spent the rest of the evening discussing Ed’s research project and alkahestry instead, which Al gladly supplied her with so that they could end the day on a lighter pitch. Ed even went as far as trying out some with their new method, although learning the arrays wasn’t as easy as popping them straight into her head given that Al couldn’t just take charge and use her Gate. The process of indirect alchemy turned out to be not as one-sided as it first seemed though because in spite of not having a clear understanding it still managed to go through flawlessly. Ed guessed that Al was supplying the rest of it through their connection.

Of course, her lack of serious progress could also have been attributed to the fact that she was mildly distracted with the imagery that was slowly piecing itself together into something more whole in her mind. Ed could now separate at least two distinct sets of people and places that never seemed to touch with one other.

* * *

The events of the previous days left plenty of food for thought for Fullmetal to mull over while she did some errands on a lazy early Sunday afternoon. The change in her relationship status for one, or the implied change of thereof anyway, and what this actually meant in terms of her own sexuality. Somewhere deep down Ed always knew that she might not be into boys since they never stirred any kind of feelings – much less desires – in her, but she never ventured to experiment if maybe her own gender had that kind of pull on her.

Rounding the corner from the market, she made a mental list of the other things giving her a headache: the possibilities and dangers of this new way of alchemy she had found out about. Not to mention the strange images of what she guessed were different worlds that only she seemed to be seeing while at it too. Déjà vu might have been the best way to describe it. She really wanted to find out, to see more of them, but honestly wasn’t sure if she should. _What would happen if it all actually clicked in place?_

Stepping inside the vaguely familiar and almost empty bar from the cobblestoned street, she searched for a brunette, but couldn’t find her.

“Hey, is Lily in?” Ed asked the bartender who was idly wiping away some glasses.

She had to practically crane her neck up to look the six foot and some odd inches tall guy in the eye.

“Sorry, only tomorrow,” the man commented in a low gruff first almost not even glancing in the blonde’s direction, but then he seemingly recognized her despite wearing her usual boyish clothes. “Oh-ho-ho, if it isn’t our little star. Are you sure you don’t want a permanent gig with us? I could set you up for every Friday night, maybe even Tuesdays or Wednesdays.”

"Please, don't remind me of that particular cluster-fuck of a night," Ed complained with a groan. Definitely no more singing in public. "Anyway, could you give her this when she does come in?" she said handing over the bag containing a black A-line dress and leggings then made a beeline towards the door with a half-hearted wave before he could respond with anything else than a mildly amused stare.

Of all people, she never would have thought to run into Roy as she made her stroll back towards home from the bar that they had visited on Friday to return the borrowed clothes to the waitress working there. Yet there he was sitting on a bench in all his civilian clothed glory at the park, looking over to the playground where much to her surprise she spotted none other than Elicia Hughes playing with some other kids.

Ed visited them regularly ever since receiving those knives from Gracia that had become ingrained in her fighting techniques on the team. Sometimes running into Mustang too at the apartment, who of course acted as a surrogate father to the girl.

“Hey there, bastard,” Fullmetal greeted flatly, drawing Roy’s attention to herself.

“Fullmetal,” he replied with an equally resigned tone. Before they could exchange any more pleasantries, Elicia ran over to them with a squealing voice.

“Big Brother Ed!” the eight-year-old jumped right up for a big hug. She was getting bigger by the day, but Ed was grateful that there was still at least a 25 cm height difference between them. Not that it would last she assumed.

“How’s my little princess?” the golden-eyed blonde asked with a huge grin on her face.

“Nuh-uh, I’m a witch today,” the precious girl twirled around pretending she had a wand or something in her hand, which oddly resonated with some of the things on Ed’s mind too. “Uncle Roy told me you are going to be a lute-tent kernel from tomorrow. I have no idea what that is, but it sounds awesome.”

“Lieutenant Colonel, sweetie, it’s a rank in the military, but to tell you the truth your version does sound much cooler,” Roy corrected her while Ed tried not to laugh out loud and hurt her favorite little sister’s feelings.

“It’s no big deal, I will just get another gold star on a uniform I don’t wear anyway,” Ed supplemented after she could breathe normally again.

“About that…” Mustang began guiltily, the ex-alchemist catching on quickly that that was going to be changing soon.

“You are sh… kidding me right?” she stopped herself from wearing in front of Elicia, but nonetheless, she was outraged.

“You are no longer a research alchemist outside the official military ranks with this promotion,” the raven-haired man explained. Ed groaned frustratedly, thinking that she should have seen that one coming.

“Are you in trouble, Big Brother?” the blonde girl asked looking up at Ed when she couldn’t figure out what the adults were talking about.

“No, everything is fine. Why don’t you go back and play with your friends while I have a word with your Uncle Roy here,” Ed managed in a kid-friendly, sweet voice before glowering at said man over Elicia’s head so she wouldn’t see.

“Okie dokie,” she untangled herself from the hug and ran back towards the jungle gym where the other boys and girls have gathered.

“Before you go on a full-on tirade…” Roy tried to diffuse the situation before it became one.

“Oh, fuck you!” Ed cursed freely now that Elicia was out of earshot, then sighed.

“Be happy that it’s not a rank further… you would have had to go for officer training…” he smirked at the idea of anyone trying to beat any sense of respect for authority into Edeline.

She gave Mustang an unamused glare.

“There is no amount of bandage I can roll around my chest to hide my gender in military issued training gear,” Ed pointedly huffed.

"I know. Colonel was on the table too when they debated your promotion since you missed out on your rank bumping after the Promised Day," the General commented as he glanced in the direction of Elicia to make sure they were playing nice.

In some sense, Ed felt she should have been grateful that at least that particular crisis was averted before it could have happened, but on the other hand, this probably meant he had to actively reason against her higher promotion which pissed her off a little.

“I will look absolutely ridiculous in the men’s uniform…” the blonde whined suddenly, burying her face in her hands.

“There is not that much difference and since you keep your…” Roy began but was cut off by a pissed off looking Ed.

“If you say ‘boobs,’ I will seriously punch you in the face!” she burst out.

“ _Torso_ wrapped, I don’t think it will matter,” he offered without amusement.

Several minutes of silence passed before either of them spoke again.

“How long do you think we can keep up this charade without everyone finding out?” Ed asked tentatively.

For a long second, Roy didn’t say a word.

“I think it is safe to say unless you get pregnant in the near future there is nothing to worry about. Especially since if I gathered correctly, you will have Ms. Rockbell as an excellent cover,” Mustang stated nonchalantly, earning himself a punch in the shoulder.

“ _Bastard_ ,” the blonde huffed.

But he was right. She wasn’t likely to grow anymore in that department given her age and lifestyle that left absolutely no chance for any extra fat to take hold in her bosom area no matter how much she ate, and what better way to have everyone think you are a boy than to go out with a girl. That incidentally also meant that she wasn’t going to get pregnant either given the lack of the necessary reproductive organs on the other side.

Roy fished his pocket watch out and after a glance stood up and called for Elicia that had to get going.

“Wait, I wanted to talk to you about something else,” she joined them nervously. “In private.”

“I suppose we can talk after I drop Elicia off with Gracia if we manage to escape dinner invitations,” Mustang offered. Meanwhile, the little girl happily grabbed onto both of their hands for the walk.  
Roy fished his pocket watch out and after a glance stood up and called for Elicia that had to get going.  
“Wait, I wanted to talk to you about something else,” she joined them nervously. “In private.”  
“I suppose we can talk after I drop Elicia off with Gracia if we manage to escape dinner invitations,” Mustang offered. Meanwhile, the little girl happily grabbed onto both of their hands for the walk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Batsutousai for the idea of using someone else’s Gate from the story ‘Dreaming in Red and Gold’ and also for the permission to use it in my own :)


	9. Strength in our bonds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: mention of off-screen sexual abuse towards women.

“So what did you want to talk about?” Mustang asked Edeline in a severe tone once they left the Hughes’ apartment.

They could only escape with the promise of visiting again very soon, Gracia insisting on not letting Al out of town before giving them a visit, because the last time either of them had seen him was a few days before his hospital release more than three years ago. The younger Elric kept in touch as much as he could through letters and pictures to make sure his little sister didn’t forget him, but of course, that wasn’t the same.

“Not on the street,” Ed insisted, her mouth set in a thin line.

“My place?” Mustang suggested as he pocketed his hands. It was spring, but the air still carried some chilliness in the evening.

“Now that’s a novelty… ending up there of my own accord,” Ed huffed, enticing a small knowing smirk on Roy’s lips.

“We could also go to the Madame’s pub. It’s closer, and no one would bother us,” he offered, not wanting to force Fullmetal into a place that she wasn’t comfortable with. True, the other option wasn’t that great in the blonde’s mind either.

Though she never had been there personally or met the woman, Ed knew they could trust Madame Christmas’s discretion. She had heard much about the older woman who ran the brothel her CO practically grew up in, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted them to know anything about this. It was far too dangerous if her suspicions were right.

“She has some rooms upstairs we could use, and no one will hear us,” noticing her hesitation, he added.

“Ah, fuck it, but if rumors start going around that the People’s Alchemist is paying for sex, you are the one handling it!” Fullmetal threatened in a low voice that sounded more like a promise of a fist in the face if that were to happen.

“I’m sure Ms. Rockbell wouldn’t be too happy with that either,” Roy commented with slight amusement.

“On second thought…” she shied away in fear of that scenario, imagining the spanner-treatment she would get if such rumors ever reached her mechanic’s ears.

Roy sighed in mild irritation at the blonde’s indecisiveness.

“It’s up to you, I don’t really care either way,” Mustang stated getting his car keys ready.

“Let’s just go to your apartment. I don’t want to take chances with what I’m about to ask,” Ed concluded finally.

* * *

“I need you to tell me about what exactly happened with Pride,” the ex-alchemist jumped right to it as soon as the door was safely closed behind them.

“May I ask why the sudden interest now?” Roy inquired after a beat as he sat down in the living room once the initial surprise wore down. His face didn’t give away anything but the blonde could guess that this wasn’t exactly a pleasant topic for him. But she had to know.

“First I want to hear what you remember without any influence by the information I might tell you,” Ed stated, too jittery to sit down so instead she just leaned on the sofa’s back opposite from the armchair Mustang had taken up residence in.

The Flame Alchemist sighed with a pained frown on his face, but he began talking anyway. He told everything from the moment Wrath pinned him down by shoving his swords through his palms, to Pride assimilating the gold-toothed doctor and drawing up the human transmutation circle made from shadows right under him, to finding himself at the vast white nothingness, then ending up at the other side not being able to see.

“Pride became the array himself?” the ex-alchemist asked incredulously to herself. That was something new. No question left really if both of them touching the array or just Roy forced by Pride.

He didn’t say anything, knowing that she meant it as a rhetorical question and that she was mulling over the new information, piecing it into whatever theory her mind had come up with regarding those events.

“So, what brought this on?” Mustang questioned after a few minutes. Being an alchemist meant that the curious scientist never rested in him either and undoubtedly there was a reason that Ed had started looking into this after four years.

Edeline sighed and rounded the sofa to sit down. Equivalent exchange was only fair. She told him about Al’s revelations, how he was able to do indirect alchemy with both Mei and her. Her theories on how it worked exactly and her initial concerns that brought her to ask Roy about his experience with Pride in the first place.

“Well, there is only one way to find out, isn’t there?” the raven-haired alchemist smirked, leaning forward over the coffee table extending his arms for Ed to take.

She blinked in confusion for a second, then it dawned on her that Roy wanted her to perform alchemy through him.

“You trust me not to abuse your Gate?” the blonde asked looking between the offered hands and the man’s face.

“There isn’t one member of my team who I wouldn’t trust my life with,” he stated with great conviction.

Edeline hesitated for one more second then took his wrists and thought of the array she wanted to use. Clapping his hands together she brought it to the drooping kalanchoe that was sitting on the table, rejuvenating it. Al had taught her this the day before, the roots of it being in alkahestry healing techniques just adapted to plants.

Her brother thought it was funny that she seemed practically incapable of taking care of the few flowers that were in her apartment, but it was more due to her life in the fast lane that she seemed to share with almost anyone in the military than an actual lack of interest or care for them.

It seemed she had been able to learn the array after all, despite the feeling that it was more Al's doing yesterday than hers since the plant looked more than fine after her ministrations.

“That was… something new,” Roy commented in awe. “What kind of array was that?”

“Alkahestry,” the blonde smirked proudly. “We were messing around with it yesterday. You can try it too.”

Mustang stood up and went to the ficus in the corner of the room and did the same with it.

“Quite an effective teaching method,” he mused after the successful transmutation. “It sort of feels like letting the steering wheel over to someone while driving.”

“What about…?” Ed trailed off with her question, but Mustang knew exactly what she was talking about.

“Nothing like this,” the raven-haired man stated with a scowl on his face. “Never had the experience myself but some of the girls at the Madame’s hadn’t been so fortunate before being in her care. One of them confided in me and based on her descriptions the closest comparison I could come up with is rape.” Vulnerability rang in his voice with that admission.

Pure rage was evident in Edeline’s eyes. She wanted to kill Pride all over again. Making it more agonizing than the first if that was possible. Given how comfortably and confidently the man had spoken about it, it was clear that he had mulled over that encounter in his head more than once, trying to come to terms with it. Anger mellowed into empathy and sadness at that realization.

“I don’t need your pity, Fullmetal,” Roy commented in a clipped tone, his calm and collected mask back on once again.

“Who the hell would pity you, bastard…” Ed huffed as she crossed her arms and looked away.

The raven-haired man let a small smile tug at the corner of his mouth. It was nice knowing his youngest subordinate cared.

“Anyway it’s late, I’m sure Al is waiting for you,” Mustang said glancing at the longcase clock at the other end of the room.

“Before I go, I want to try the transmutation with you actively resisting or denying me permission in thought,” she stated seriously.

“Why?” Roy quirked a brow at her.

“Call it morbid curiosity, but I want to make sure this new method can’t be abused if the other party doesn’t want it,” Ed explained. She just had to make sure.

“Right,” he agreed.

Much to her relief, they found that it just simply didn't work, like hitting a wall the flow of energy just stopped once Mustang put his mind to not letting her use his Gate. As she stepped through the threshold to leave, Ed turned back contemplatively.

“Let’s keep this between us for now, okay?” the ex-alchemist pleaded.

“Careful with such statements at my front door. That’s how rumors start,” Roy smirked smugly.

“One would think one punch to the stomach is plenty enough for one weekend,” Ed hissed as she brought her hand into a fist threateningly.

“See you tomorrow in the office, Fullmetal,” he sighed in resignation as he closed the door.

“Fucking bastard,” she muttered as she trotted down those few steps leading up to the door.

It was only then that Ed realized that she hadn’t seen any of the usual flashbacks that accompanied her transmutations with her brother.

* * *

“Where have you been?” Al’s worried and relieved voice rang through her apartment once she made it through the entrance.

“Ran into General Bastard,” she offered as an explanation. “By the way, how long are you staying in Amestris? Gracia made me promise to bring you along.”

“I planned to stay for at least a few weeks. I was hoping to see them,” he stated with a grin.

“Good, because I think Elicia is just about at her limit without her favorite big brother,” Ed recalled the way the little girl’s face lit up when she mentioned that Al was back in the country.

“I’m pretty sure she likes you better, she had seen more of you. She had only met me once outside that armor,” the younger Elric commented with a little melancholy.

“That’s true, but she remembers your voice. She knew exactly who you were when she met you properly for the first time at the hospital. And technically I’m not her brother,” the blond girl smirked.

“Yes, but she doesn’t know that. Speaking of which, how long are we keeping up this façade?” he asked pointedly.

“Until Mustang becomes Führer,” Ed sighed, but it was clear that she was determined to see this through.

“So did you tell him about our findings?” Al probed after a few moments of silence. _Why else would she have been gone practically the whole day after running into the General?_

“We can safely assume that some level of trust and permission is required for indirect alchemy to work but that still doesn’t really rule out the possibility of tricking others. I really don’t know what would happen though in a human transmutation since Pride’s method was clearly different,” the ex-alchemist summarized the things she had found out during the afternoon.

“I think you are overthinking it. Human transmutation is forbidden either way. You just have to make sure that people don’t experiment with it in general, especially within the military,” her brother tried to bring that particular topic to an end.

“You are right, Al,” Ed smiled. With her being a regular visitor in the labs over the past few years she had a pretty good handle on what the other alchemists were working on, and she was satisfied that the new administration paid a great deal of attention to not letting the mistakes of the past repeat themselves.

“Sooo… do you want to see the ice alchemy I learned while a foreign delegation was visiting Xing?”

* * *

After picking her new uniform up at HQ and changing into it, Ed stood in front of the mirror in the restroom. Before the Promised Day which bathroom to use hadn’t really been an issue given that she rarely visited any of the headquarters and just did her business at her hotel. Luckily, the team’s office was in a pretty secluded part of the east wing, so no one else really used the ones there besides themselves. For some reason, Ed had a suspicion that was intentional on Roy’s part to help her avoid awkward encounters in the men’s room since using the women’s would still be too risky.

Seeing herself in the military blue was far beyond weird. Ed had no idea who had come up with the design, but practicality was probably furthest from their concerns. That butt cape… _oh boy_. But at least Mustang was right, the material was thick and bulky enough that there was no need for concern in the gender department, even if it was little loose in the crotch area.

With a last check and heavy sigh, she clipped her State Alchemist watch in place and strode out to the hallway and back into their offices, her bag in hand that now contained her regular clothes inside. She would just have to swing by the uniform issue office after work to pick up the other sets to have spare clothes for work.

“Looking good, Chief,” Havoc commented accompanied by a little whistle once she entered through the doors.

“Shut up,” Ed huffed while sending him a glare that only made him chuckle as she sat down at her desk.

Looking around she noticed that Mustang was nowhere to be seen. Before she could formulate her question, Hawkeye answered her.

“The General is in a meeting with the Führer,” she offered the explanation for his absence.

“Been a lot of that lately,” Ed muttered under her breath.

One could only hope that this was some sort of grooming for the Führer’s position or at least in preparation for another promotion, to a three-star general finally which was only a step away from their goal. _The Ishvalan reconstruction and then cleaning house in the labs were the things that had earned him the rank of Lieutenant General in the past few years, what will it take this time?_ – Ed wondered.

Though things had undoubtedly calmed down since the rule of King Bradley, at least considering internal affairs, Amestris was still a long ways from becoming a peaceful nation. Border disputes and wars with practically all neighboring countries were the main issues nowadays. It wasn’t an easy task to mend the relations that had been so thoroughly messed up by the agenda the homunculi were running.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Führer’s office, Mustang ran over their latest assignment.

“With all due respect, sir…” he began hesitantly. “Are you sure I am your best bet for the task? I had Prince Claudio’s youngest brother arrested and deported back home about six years ago when I was sent north by Bradley to handle the situation with Arendelle. I’m sure the crown prince won’t appreciate my presence.”

“On the contrary. He requested that your team be the protection detail while he was visiting Central for the peace talks,” Grumman offered with that mysterious smile that could hold multiple meanings in regards to this situation.

This could go either way. Roy had a hard time imagining why exactly Prince Claudio wanted him specifically. It could be a ploy to seek revenge for the treatment his brother was given, but considering that there were thirteen brothers in the family, disputes and plotting between them to bring the current crown heir down was a possibility too. If that were true, he very well could be even grateful that the then Colonel provided a good enough reason to push the youngest prince to the sidelines.

“Understood, sir,” the Lieutenant General saluted as he took the briefing files under his arm.

“It goes without saying that don’t screw this up, Mustang,” the Führer added as an afterthought as Roy exited his office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: There are these FMA games that were only released in Japan called Prince of Dawn and Daughter of Dusk. Since they weren’t dubbed to English, I only have vague ideas about the actual plotline. They are also set before the Promised Day based on the cut screen videos (around the time Ed and Al are looking for Mei in Central to learn about alkahestry from her), but I will just go ahead and have my fun with it anyway, and alter it in some parts to suit my needs for my story :D There is a small reference to my ‘A Song of Fire and Ice’ story in here too. (Actually two small hints :D )


	10. Welcome back

* * *

Contrary to popular belief, Ed wasn't as lazy as Mustang when it came to paperwork. Back in the day she just made a sport out of handing in reports late or sloppily (mind you that was also due to the fact that her dominant hand had been auto-mail, so her handwriting was shit whichever she used) to grate on the man's nerves, and well… frankly, because she didn't really care about the military then and she just wanted to use them for her own ends.

But things were different now. Fullmetal actually had her pile sorted through and handled pretty quickly, much to Hawkeye's approval. It could also be that women were naturally more proficient with this kind of things, but there was certainly no one in or out of the military who would have dared to take them for secretaries.

With no active assignments and their CO gone for the morning, it was a really slow workday. To ease her boredom, Ed began doodling in her journal. Last night she ended up using Al's Gate a couple times again – mostly to transmute a spare set of keys for him so that he wasn't stuck in the apartment while she was at work – and with that, the flashbacks came back. The ex-alchemist had an inkling of a suspicion that the reason she saw these with Al but not with Roy was their fused Gates that connected their minds even after all this time. Whether that was a blessing or a curse was still up for debate, but that particular effect of their sin was not erasable it seemed.  _Could these be memories? If yes, whose?_  The images appeared nothing like the things Al had described to her about Xing, so that left her by default.  _Definitely not three days' worth that was for sure._

The blonde tried her best to capture the faces she had seen. She still didn't have names for any of them since there wasn't any auditory input with her visions but she could sort of make out how they related to each other, marking those in her drawing too. Her drawing skills were still as shit as ever, so she doubted anyone would ever be able to recognize them based on the sketches, but she wanted to capture it in case they ever faded from her mind.

While she was busy with that Mustang had returned, summoning them all into his inner office. Ed hurriedly put her journal away before joining the rest of the team.

"The crown prince of Aerugo is coming to Amestris in three weeks' time for peace talks, and hopefully to sign a treaty by the end. We are in charge of guaranteeing his safety during the visit," the General announced once he had everyone's attention.

Ed could see some of them – especially Falman and Breda – making an astonished and confused face at that. The blond ex-alchemist had the feeling that she was missing some piece of the puzzle here. She was itching to find out, but soon enough they were given their individual tasks to prepare for the diplomatic visit, and that took up all of their attention. They were in for a couple of weeks of overtime.

* * *

When she finally made it home completely exhausted, Al was nowhere to be seen. With another quick glance, Ed noticed the lights were on in the bathroom indicating her brother's whereabouts. The ex-alchemist contemplated whether to quickly run into her bedroom to hide her uniforms and change before he could see and make fun of her or not, but before she could decide the door cracked open and the younger Elric stepped out with nothing more than a towel on around his waist.

"Hey, Sis…" Al trailed off when he noticed the entirely different getup Ed was in compared to that morning. "You look…"

"Don't even start," the smaller blonde frowned as she made her way to her room to put everything away. Fresh sets put in the closet, dirty clothes tossed in the hamper, her journal just lazily thrown on the bed.

"Dashing?" he called after her with a chuckle.

"Shut up," Ed huffed as she shrugged the military jacket off.

"Charming?" the younger Elric continued teasing, she just groaned taken aback.

Al leaned against her doorframe as he watched her ministrations. He hadn't seen before, but her room was… surprisingly tidy. That was new. Lest the piles of books scattered about on her bedside tables, which was entirely expected.  _At least not everything changes._  Maybe not having to live out of a suitcase had been the key all along. Or having a place that she was solely responsible for and no one to pick up after her. Or maybe she secretly had maid service. On second thought, definitely not, Ed would never trust strangers to go through her stuff however careful she was about coding her research notes.

"What?" she snapped a bit irritatedly at her brother because he was looking at her like she had grown two heads or something.

"Nothing," the taller blonde shook his head. "You just seem more… mature."

"Uhm… Thanks?" Ed rolled her eyes at that as she proceeded to strip herself of the blue garments and letting her hair down from the high ponytail too. Grabbing a large shirt and slacks, she walked past Al to the bathroom to take a shower herself as well. She was dying to undo the bandages around her chest since she had fastened them a little too tight as a precaution with the new clothes.

After finally being able to breathe again she proceeded to shower and wash her hair. Stepping out, she took good care of making sure her auto-mail was completely dry before dressing again. With the promise of Winry being around a lot in the near future, she didn't want to hear her bitching about proper maintenance.

"Sis… what's this?" Al asked as soon as she stepped back into her room with a towel on her damp hair.

Glancing his way, Ed noticed her notebook on the bed open at her drawings from the morning. She sighed heavily.  _I guess I should put those away more carefully if I didn't want him snooping…_

"Just some doodles, we had a pretty uninteresting morning," the ex-alchemist flopped down on her bed, lying down with her arms extended at her sides.

"Seems more than that," he commented looking at them more thoroughly.

Many people had lines connecting them. Two distinct groups could be seen that didn't have any relation marked between either of their members, only with others within their circles. In one of the clusters, there was a young man and a webbed mask with an equal sign and a question mark, while two others had two versions of themselves, one in a helmet with the letter A on it, the other in a full face armor, and without them.

"Just leave it alone," Ed objected as she snatched her journal back from his hands, shutting it closed and shoving it in her drawer, then stalked out of the room to hunt down some sort of a snack.

"Is this what you see every time you do alchemy?" Al asked in concern as he followed her out.

"What part of 'leave it alone' didn't you get, Al?" she sighed heavily, purposefully keeping her back to him as she scrunched her eyes shut.  _Of course, he would make the connection with her little comment from days ago…_

"Do you think these are your memories of your time away?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know!" Ed burst out frustratedly, clutching the counter.  _Why was this making me so anxious?_  She regretted yelling at her brother almost as soon as the words left her mouth. Taking a deep breath, she turned around. "I don't know, Al, can we just drop it?" she pleaded in a calmer tone.

"If that's what you want," her brother agreed, not wanting to push her too far.

"I'm going to bed," the older Elric announced, abandoning the late night snack on the counter.

* * *

Edeline didn't sleep well that night, tossing and turning, dreaming of her mystery figures. When she awoke, she felt guilty for lashing out at Al, but he didn't seem bothered by the breakfast table, even made her eggs like he used to when he was still an armor.

"Yesterday I called the Hughes', made plans to spend the day with them, Gracia even had Elicia taken out of school," he offered cheerfully between bites to make small talk. It was sort of a relief that he wouldn't be alone, now that she wasn't available to entertain him because of her extended work hours.

"That's good," Ed hummed a bit disinterestedly.

"Then I thought to go down to Resembool to help Winry with the move. There are also plenty of stuff that Granny needs help fixing around the house that I couldn't get to when I picked Winry up last week," Al continued with the chatter. Another reason would be that he wanted to give some space to her if she wanted to work this out alone, but he didn't voice it.

"Sorry that I can't come, we are going to be kind of busy in the coming weeks with our new assignment," the ex-alchemist glanced up. She also felt a little guilty that she might have driven him away with her attitude, but he didn't seem upset or anything. Just his usual jovial self.

"No, it's fine, I understand. I'm actually proud of you that you are taking this seriously," he smiled. While in Xing, he had been kind of worried that the military was only an escape route for his sister to avoid feeling useless after fulfilling her promise to him to get his body back because she couldn't find her place in the world.

"When wasn't I serious about something?" Ed frowned down at her food. Al just chuckled.

"If it's important to you on a personal level you are," the younger Elric agreed with a grin.

* * *

Days merged into weeks, and before Ed could catch herself, it was already the weekend before the delegation was supposed to arrive. On the following Tuesday, the better half of the team was leaving for the southern border to escort the visitors back to Central. Meanwhile, as it turned out Friday was also the day Al and Winry were returning to Central, so Ed had kindly asked Havoc to help them with a car so that they could take all of the mechanic's luggage back to her place after work. This also meant that Winry would be seeing her in military blue for the first time.

"Excited to see your girl again?" Havoc asked with a wink during their drive over to the station. Ed looked at him with an unamused glare.

"Are you seriously trying to man talk me?" she inquired incredulously.

It was like Maes Hughes all over again when he had visited them in the hospital after the Lab 5 fiasco. No matter what Ed had said he just kept on spinning it to allude that there was something between her and Winry even back then. In the end he wasn't wrong, but still. Her mind was on anything but getting her love life in order at the time. Hell, she only now consciously realized that she was a lesbian for crying out loud. Though whether the intelligence officer did actually know about her real gender or not was still up for debate. If he did, that would mean he was even more perceptive than she thought, given that he picked up on this detail too when she was only fifteen.  _Wish he could have seen me now…_

"Come on, can't really blame me. When we thought you were a boy we had a betting pool on when you would finally cave and admit your feelings for her. Imagine the disappointment when we found out you were a girl. Then it turns out you are still playing for the same team. So I'm just curious," the 1st Lieutenant offered good-naturedly.

"I'm glad you guys find my personal life so amusing," Ed huffed sarcastically as they finally pulled up beside the curb at the train station.

They arrived a little late, the train had already pulled into its platform. Al and Winry were patiently waiting for them with three large suitcases at their feet. Just as Ed was about to call out to them, her mechanic looked towards their way and froze with wide-eyed surprise as she took in the ex-alchemist's attire.

As the two soldiers reached them, the blue-eyed girl quickly closed the distance and embraced Ed in a big hug, hiding her face in Ed's braid. The lieutenant colonel lazily enveloped one hand around her waist, murmuring 'Welcome back.' in her ear but couldn't help the blush that appeared on her cheeks at the warm greeting.  _There, Mustang… public display of affection with a girl, I hope you are satisfied…_

"It's the military blue. All chicks dig men in uniform," Havoc chuckled beside them just to add another layer to the embarrassment. Ed punched him in the shoulder with her free hand.  _I'm not a man!_

"Is that all?" Edeline raised a brow at the amount of luggage once the Rockbell girl let go of her. Honestly, she was expecting more.

"Mr. Garfield will ship my equipment up from Rush Valley once I can get a shop space somewhere in town," Winry chirped happily, reaching for one of the suitcases, but Ed quickly took it from her while the guys grabbed the other two.

"I've got it," the slightly shorter blonde smiled, taking her mechanic's hand with her free one.

"So what's with the uniform?" the mechanic asked finally. Not that it didn't look nice on Ed, actually quite the opposite, it weirdly made her manlier and more feminine at the same time, however paradoxical that may sound.

"I'll tell you in the car," Ed offered with a roll of her eyes, her voice mixed with mild irritation and humor at the topic.

Neither of them noticed the hooded person watching them as they left.

* * *

"How's Granny Pinako?" Ed asked once they settled in the apartment, and began putting most of her childhood friend's stuff away in the closet. There was plenty of space given that the ex-alchemist still didn't have many belongings despite having had settled down years ago.

Al offered to sleep on the couch or finding himself a hotel since there was only one guest room in his sister's place but after a meaningful glance between the blond girls they shot him down quickly. They had slept plenty of times in one bed when they were kids, this wouldn't be that much different, right?

"She is doing fine, although old age is surely catching up with her. I felt bad leaving her all alone, but she insisted that I go live my life and not worry about her," Winry explained with a sad smile as she continued folding her stuff in the drawers.

"We could find her a place in the city if she wanted to move too, to be closer to us," Ed offered. With her promotion, she should have plenty of money to buy a small one-bedroom apartment if needed, but she had the suspicion that with their successful auto-mail business it wouldn't be a problem for them either.

"I asked, she said not a chance," the blue-eyed blonde laughed out. "Said she is better suited for the country life."

"So what do you guys want to do on the weekend?" Al joined them in the conversation once he was finished unpacking in the guest room.

"Could we visit Elicia tomorrow? I haven't seen her in so long!" the mechanic perked up at the idea.

"Sure, let me just ring them to make sure they don't have other plans," Ed offered, leaving them to the rest of the unpacking.

They settled into a light-hearted conversation after Winry made them dinner, which was a nice change compared to the occasional take-out she ordered if she got off work early enough. Edeline didn't cook. There was absolutely no need for it with the military cafeteria on base, where they usually ate lunch and dinner too if it was a long work day. On missions, it was rations or dining out. But all in all, home cooked meals were the best.

Once they got ready for sleep, the ex-alchemist stood in her room, deep in thought as she glanced towards her bed.

"Which side do you usually sleep on?" Winry asked as she stepped into the room.

"Uh… what?" Ed hummed in confusion, apparently not paying attention.

"What are you spacing out about, dummy?" the blue-eyed girl teased.

"Just haven't really shared a bed with anyone in a long time," she sighed getting in under the covers on the right side, leaving the other for Winry by default.

Her mechanic smiled at the non-verbal answer to her question and settled herself in too, turning on her right side to face Ed. Golden orbs looked into her own, full of some unnamed emotion. Winry tentatively reached out and took Ed's left hand in hers. Neither of theirs was particularly soft or delicate like women's usually were, calloused by years of fighting and auto-mail repairs, but it held all the comfort either of them needed.

"Winry…"

"Ed…"

They spoke up at exactly the same time, making them chuckle a bit at the awkwardness.

"Go ahead," the ex-alchemist offered.

"No, you first," Winry insisted, making Ed sigh in frustration at the stubbornness.

"I'm glad you are here," she said anyway after a beat, making the other girl smile fondly back at her.

"Me too," the mechanic replied in a low whisper, not sure if Ed had heard.

"Sleep well," Ed murmured half asleep as she turned back on her back, accidentally brushing her auto-mail against Winry's leg.

"Ow… that's cold," the blue-eyed blonde breathed out in surprise.

"Sorry," Ed muttered. "Maybe I should take the left side after all."

"No, it's fine," Winry declined as she closed her eyes to sleep. "Good night, Ed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise the real action is starting from the next chapter :D


	11. Foreign visitors

Waking up to Winry wasn't novelty per se, but the sight of her by Ed's side caught the ex-alchemist off guard. Unable to help herself, she watched the other blonde as she slept, curled on her side facing her.  _Wait, was this creepy? Or is this normal for couples? Are we even a couple? Fuck, this is confusing!_  – she rambled on internally. And yet she wasn't able to look away.

Winry probably sensed the intense staring because within a few seconds she cracked one of her sky blue eyes open to look at Ed herself, making the golden-eyed blonde blush because she was caught.

"'Morning," Ed offered to take her mind off of the things that were making her stomach flutter.

"Good morning to you to," Winry yawned and stretched like a little kitten.

Without another word, the mechanic got up and sauntered out of the room, but not before offering a small smile over her shoulder.  _Flirting… right… because that's a thing… how am I supposed to flirt with someone I have known my whole life?_  Edeline followed her soon after, her left leg clinking against the tiles in the hallway, but instead of the kitchen, she made her way to the bathroom.

By the time she came out, Al was up too. They got ready and ate breakfast at a leisurely pace then headed out to visit the Hughes'.

Elicia was over the moon to see her big sister, telling her all about the adventures she had in the past few years, what with school and her friends, effectively dragging the older girl off into her room to play, leaving Ed and Al with Gracia. Ed would have felt jealous, but Winry was the one the eight-year-old hadn't seen the longest, so the extra attention she gave her was understandable.

Gracia was, of course, quick to notice Ed's longing stare on the back of the mechanic as she disappeared around the corner and also probably the fact that they had come in holding hands.

"I see Maes was right after all," she commented quietly with a fond smile.

"I guess so," Ed scratched the back of her head embarrassedly while Al just chuckled at them.

"I had my money on that a handsome young man would take your heart, but I should have known better to not bet against my husband," Gracia chuckled a bit, probably at the memory when they discussed this with the late Mr. Hughes. Both of the siblings' eyes went wide.

"Yes, I know, but don't worry your secret is safe with me," she winked, and that confirmed any and all suspicions Ed may have had about the shrewdness of a certain intelligence officer.

* * *

Ed felt terrible about leaving Winry alone while she had to go on assignment so soon after her move, but the mechanic assured her that she would be plenty busy trying to hunt down a shop space that she could rent and she also had Al to keep her company. At least they had a pretty lovely weekend behind themselves. If you didn't count the fact that Ed spent the late afternoon of Saturday and the whole of Sunday with a spare leg because Winry insisted that if she was going on a serious mission, it was imperative that her leg was in tip-top shape.

Not to mention that last month she only pulled a few screws to extend the leg about half an inch as a temporary fix so that the strain was taken off of Ed's hips until Winry could get the necessary parts and properly replace it – which she now actually had. That also meant that the plates didn't cover the leg precisely in some places and that definitely had to be remedied before the trip.

At least that had been Winry's reasoning, but Ed liked to think that she just enjoyed tormenting her – the golden-eyed blonde positively hated the pain of the nerves connecting that went with the reattachment. Hell, at least the ex-alchemist had time to sketch some more in her journal having nothing better to do, while her mechanic took up the dining table to assemble her new appendage. She hadn't added anything to her diary in a while anyway because they were too busy in the office. Al, of course, was his usual nosy self about it.

They still didn't really have the chance to talk about their feelings or relationship status – if you don't count the half-drunk confession of Winry at the bar a month ago during the celebrations that Ed only vaguely remembered, but they had time, right? There was no hurry. That same night was the last time they kissed too. Also, Winry's doing.  _Was I supposed to make the next move?_  – Ed wondered.

Similar thoughts passed through Edeline's mind on the rather uneventful train ride they were taking down to South City on Tuesday afternoon. Fuery and Falman had stayed behind at HQ while Mustang, Hawkeye, Havoc, Breda, and Ed were meeting the delegation and escorting them back to Central with two additional cars that southern HQ had prepared for them at the station. They could have taken cars from Central, but since a supply train was leaving that direction anyway, it was more cost efficient to just pick up the vehicles on arrival.

Before they reached the city and had to go their separate ways to their hotel rooms, Mustang insisted on a last-minute reiteration of the plan and the positions everyone would take. Prince Claudio was supposed to arrive with the newly appointed ambassador who was going to stay in Amestris if the negotiations went well, plus their guards, reportedly there would be at least ten of them, so that meant at least three cars, but possibly four or five.

The initial greeting would be held right at the border. Line-up, salutations. Mustang would welcome the prince to Amestris. Then back into the cars: Mustang, Hawkeye, and Breda at the front of the convoy, while Ed and Havoc flanked the rear.

Ed could see that Mustang was tense and deep in thought about something as they left the meeting. She wasn't that surprised, this was a rather stressful assignment, a lot rode on it, not just the peace treaty. Their original suggestion was to escort the crown prince to headquarters as quietly and covertly as possible, but as it turned out, Aerugo, or at least Claudio Rico, was insistent on making a whole parade out of it in Central. Certainly not ideal in terms of security, but it seemed that was a minor point in their agenda which was weird given that their future ruler, whose life should have been a priority, was among the diplomatic guests. Fortunately, the organization of that circus was delegated to another general to handle by Grumman.

* * *

The drive down to the border early next morning was similarly uneventful, but Ed didn't really feel like chatting up Havoc. He would just bring Winry up again and try to get details out of her. The blond girl felt the lieutenant's gaze on herself a couple of times, but something in her expression must have made him reconsider opening his mouth.

Once reaching their destination, they filed out of their respective cars and stood in line in anticipation of the delegation. Their timing turned out to be impeccable since less than ten minutes later the Aerugian vehicles appeared at the end of the road.

As the convoy stopped all of them snapped into salutes – even Ed, however hard it was for her to show any sign of respect to authority. Mustang walked forward.

"Your Royal Highness, if I may introduce myself. Lieutenant General Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist. In the name of Führer President Grumman, I welcome you to Amestris," he greeted the man at the center of the party with the utmost respect.  _If it were a princess, she surely would have been swooning by now…_  – Ed thought, desperately wanting to roll her eyes.

Instead, the crown prince was a reasonably handsome man about the same height and age as the General, with auburn hair and deep blue eyes, who by the looks of things was definitely not affected by Mustang's charms. He and all the others of his party were wearing copper brown uniforms that were almost the same shade as Prince Claudio's hair, except HRH also had a white over-coat and sash thrown over his shoulders.

It wasn't hard to guess which car was the one the smug heir traveled in. All the vehicles were black except the one in the middle of the five-car convoy which was a white convertible with a red roller roof. And he traveled with only his driver, no additional bodyguards. A vein ticked on Ed's forehead as she tried to keep her calm.  _It was as if this guy was_ asking _for someone to try and assassinate him!_

"It's a pleasure to finally meet the famous Flame Alchemist," Claudio returned the pleasantries. He seemed nice enough, but something about his mannerisms just grated on Ed's nerves. "I'm deeply regretful about my youngest brother and the troubles he had caused for you and your country, not to mention your trading partner. I must assure you that he was not acting with the consent of the Aerugian royal court and was thoroughly dealt with once we heard of his transgressions. I hope it will not affect our negotiations in the coming days."

"Not at all, Sir," Mustang affirmed professionally, although Ed could just catch a slight hint of surprise at that statement.  _What kind of history do they have? How did Roy know the youngest prince of Aerugo?_  "If I may suggest, we should head out. Central is excitedly awaiting your scheduled arrival at 1500, and we still have a long road ahead of us. My team and I will escort the convoy at the front and rear if that is alright."

"Much appreciated, General Mustang," the crown prince agreed and turned to head back to his own car but not before scanning over the faces of Roy's men, for some reason lingering a fraction longer on Ed than everyone else.

* * *

"God, that damn prince is annoying," Ed huffed to Havoc once they were in the car and were waiting for the vehicles to drive off so they could follow them.

"I dunno, he seemed cordial enough. Much better than Prince Hans," he offered nonchalantly as he turned onto the road.

"Who the hell is that?" the ex-alchemist asked pointedly.

"The youngest of the thirteen princes of Aerugo. We had an unpleasant run-in with him up north about six years ago when he tried to weasel his way into Arendelle's court by marrying the younger princess then plotted to kill the newly crowned queen and take the throne for himself. We were sent up to investigate a border breach by an alchemist and stumbled upon his conspiracy by chance, really long story better ask the Boss if you wanna hear more. In a nutshell, Mustang had to deport the guy back his country," the Lieutenant explained.

"Wow. How did I not know about this?" the blond girl muttered to herself, leaning against her hand, elbow propped at the window, her eyes on the surroundings since she was the lookout.

"You were busy getting your brother's body back, rarely stopping by East City, so it isn't really a surprise," Havoc offered with a small smirk.

"Yeah, I guess," she sighed.

"Mind if I light a cigarette?" Jean asked after a few minutes.

"Don't even think about it," Ed glared at him, his hopes visibly crushed.

* * *

The main street leading to Central Command Center from the south was literally turned into a festival. Soldiers were lining the road as a cordon from the mass of people who came out to see the handsome prince that came to visit. Ed wouldn't have been surprised to find that the whole population of the city was out there.

Once they passed the city border the roof of Claudio's convertible was rolled back, and he jovially waved at the crowd, seemingly unconcerned by any risk that this act carried. Relations between their countries were strained at best, openly hostile most of the time up until four years ago. There surely were people who still held grudges against their southern neighbors.

Ed's eyes scanned the rooftops, but fortunately, no snipers were in sight. The ex-alchemist praised her training in that craft now, because that also meant that she could spot the best locations where she would have placed herself. Ed stole some glances at the mass of people too. Many girls were fawning over the prince with dreamy expressions, excitedly cheering, while other people seemed impassive at best, some outright angry, judging from their body language, standing behind the line-up, glaring daggers with their eyes, arms crossed, but no one tried anything with this many soldiers crawling around.

In the crowd of people, Ed managed to spot Al and Winry. They were standing in the front row, right behind the line of military blues, near the end of the parade. There seemed to be another girl between them, someone Ed had never seen before. Around thirteen-fourteen years old, slightly smaller in stature than Winry, with reddish-brown hair, dressed in a pinkish dress.  _Who the hell is that? Will have to wait till I'm off duty to find out… Though it's not surprising for Al to befriend strangers easily._  They obviously didn't see Ed, too focused on the convoy up front, which was probably for the best in the given circumstances.

They finally reached the stairs leading up to the Command Center without incident. The Aerugian guards and Mustang's team escorted the royalty and the ambassador up the stairs and inside the banquette hall where another line-up and finally Grumman awaited the delegation.

* * *

Escort duties were taken over by Major Armstrong and his team after the initial introductions and pleasantries were over with between the representatives of the two countries – thank Truth, since they were exhausted by the long drive and constant vigilance – which meant that Ed could finally look for everyone. Alas, the circus would continue the next day after the morning peace talks.

"And I thought train rides were bothersome…" Ed groaned as she stretched her aching muscles once they were back in Mustang's office for a quick debrief before they were let off after the eight-hour drive and standing stiffly for another two while the head monkeys did their courtesy rounds.

"Anything to report?" the General asked quickly, acutely aware that everyone wanted to go home, shower and sleep in their own beds finally.

"Beside the fact that Prince Pompous Ass nearly gave us a heart attack when we saw that he let down his car roof?" the ex-alchemist commented sarcastically with a roll of her eyes, despite the fact that her CO was mainly asking Fuery and Falman who had stayed at HQ to keep tabs on the incoming intel.

"A lot of chatter but nothing concrete so far, Sir," Vato reported seriously, ignoring the small blonde's intermission.

"Well, I guess that is good news. If a terrorist group was plotting an actual assassination attempt, we would have heard about it by now either through official channels or the Madame's network," Roy sighed. "Good work everyone. Tomorrow is another long day so get some rest."

As Roy turned towards the window everyone filed out of the inner office, clearly relieved, only Ed stayed behind. Hawkeye eyed her for a moment but decided to give them privacy and closed the door behind herself.

"Am I the only one who thinks something is fishy here?" Ed asked as she plopped down on one of the couches in the office.

"No, I totally agree," Mustang hummed still thinking.

"I personally think this trip is a ploy to flush out some adversaries. Why else would the crown prince walk around with a bigger target sign on his back than Kennedy?" the ex-alchemist scowled.  _And we are the scapegoats if they actually succeeded…_

"Who is Kennedy?" Roy turned towards Ed with a raised brow.

Edeline stayed silent for a whole minute. She had no idea, the comparison just popped into her mind.

"Never mind," she said finally, standing right up like nothing happened. "Anyway, I'm going to head out too."

* * *

"I'm back!" Ed called out after she opened her apartment door. She figured Al and Winry were going to wait up, but not in a thousand years she would have thought that they would have a guest over. None other than the girl Ed saw them with during the parade. "Hi?" she prompted with surprise.

"I'm so terribly sorry to intrude, but your brother insisted that it wouldn't be a problem if I stayed over," the girl shot up from the couch and bowed respectfully at Ed. "My name is Elena Fiori."

"Not at all…" the blond state alchemist trailed off. "Ed Elric," she introduced herself finally. "Al, may I have a word with you?"

"Just give us a minute," Al apologetically waved towards Elena and Winry, who continued on with their conversation.

"What the hell are you doing?" his sister hissed once she dragged the younger Elric into her bedroom and closed the door on themselves.

"Just helping out a friend in need," he innocently commented. "She doesn't have a place to stay for the night."

"Why do I have the feeling you just met the girl?" she accused pointedly. She knew her brother… he had a tendency to take in… strays.

"Well, we met at the parade, she seemed like a nice girl. She couldn't find a hotel because they are all booked up because of the Aerugian delegation. Everyone is so hyped, I think half the country traveled up to Central just to get a glimpse of him," Al explained, a bit taken aback by Ed's attitude.

"You do realize that this could be an elaborate plan to get close to one of the officers guarding our foreign royal visitors?" the lieutenant colonel stated with all the authority she could muster to make sure her point went across.

"Wait!  _That_  was your mission?" Al cried out with realization.

"Still is, but let's not announce it from the rooftops," Ed forcefully whispered.

"Do you really think she is a spy or something?" her brother finally inquired all crestfallen.

"I have no idea. Keep an eye on her just in case. I'm on duty tomorrow too during that godforsaken alchemy show," the ex-alchemist grunted with displeasure.  _Leave it to Mustang to rub it in my face and assign me to that time slot specifically!_

"Sis…" Al began but was cut off.

"None of that while she is around," she admonished.  _Having to sleep with chest bandages… just great!_

"Brother," the younger Elric rolled his eyes. "Only Winry will be with her during the show. I was asked to be one of the contenders."

At that Ed just gaped like a beached fish.

"Fine," she said finally. "Havoc and Breda are assigned to the amphitheater, I will let them know to be on the lookout for them."

As they exited the room, something else occurred to Ed.

"Wait, where is she going to sleep?" the blonde soldier mused. Four people were starting to get to be an awful lot for a two-bedroom apartment.

"I'm fine with the couch," Elena called out. Clearly, she heard that comment.

"Absolutely not, you can have the guest room, and I will sleep on the couch," Al insisted, eliciting a small blush from the new girl.  _Oh, boy… Mei is going to blow if she hears about this…_

* * *

The parade ground was jam-packed for the alchemy contest, making their jobs that much harder. Ed was up with Hawkeye in the Führer's booth with Grumman and Prince Claudio, plus two members of their guards too. Of course, Mustang was also part of the show. How could they not show off the famous Flame Alchemist… And he was pitted against Al too! Ed was in a real sour mood from the whole thing.  _It should have been me! I've been dreaming of kicking the bastard's ass since I was like thirteen!_  She had a feeling if she still had her alchemy it would have been her, and her brother was the closest alternative they had, given that he could do circleless transmutations too.

But she had no time to concentrate on that because a flick of light caught her attention from the top of the radio tower in the distance. Fortunately, Hawkeye had seen it too, and they had just enough time to pull both their Führer and the foreign royal to the ground as a gunshot rang through the air.


	12. When duty calls

Time froze for a second. Between seeing the reflection, taking the crown prince of Aerugo to the ground and hearing the firing of the sniper rifle, everything went into slow-motion. Then for another second no one knew what had happened after the bullet lodged itself into the wall behind them. And that was when the flurry of action started.

The guards hurriedly escorted Claudio out, crouching all the way and covering him with their bodies. Meanwhile, Hawkeye took Grumman. Edeline followed soon after. Grabbing their gear from behind the door, she rung Fuery up on the portable radio.

"Shot fired at Georgina and Claudia, both uninjured. Sniper on the radio tower, 750 meters northeast of the stadium. I repeat, enemy sniper on the radio tower, 750 meters northeast. Requesting a unit immediately to set up a roadblock around the area. I'm going higher up to see if I can catch a glimpse of our perpetrator," Ed rattled off as fast as she could then ran up the stairs to get to the roof of the stadium booth with her rifle.

It was a crappy vantage point given that they were at a lower elevation than the top of the radio tower, but she had to try since she wasn't sure if anyone else had a better one. Meanwhile, she trusted Mustang and the others to handle the spectators and the inevitable panic that probably ensued down below. Luckily she at least wouldn't have to worry about Winry. Al had probably run to her and the girl the minute he heard the shot.

* * *

Alphonse was in the middle of his mock battle with Mustang when the gunshot was heard. It was almost drowned out by the noise of him moving the earth beneath Mustang's feet with alchemy to gain some leverage.

But with the flurry of action that erupted both in the booth and the panic in the audience, it was clear that he had heard it right. The officers began evacuating the stadium, while Al quickly ran up to Winry and Elena, and transmuted himself up, elevating a mound of dirt from the pit with a clap of his hands.

"Is Ed alright?" the panic-stricken mechanic asked once he got there, holding onto Elena's hand tightly so she wouldn't get lost in the crowd. She had caught a glimpse of the golden-eyed blonde up in the booth during the show, making the correct assumption that Ed was assigned to guarding the prince. Winry's eyes held the many things that she still wanted to tell to that thick-skulled Elric so she better not die from protecting some foreign douchebag!

"I'm sure he is," it was merely the years of habit of referring to Ed as a male that kept Al from slipping up. "It takes more than a bullet to take the Fullmetal Alchemist out. But let's get out of here and let them do their job."

* * *

The roof door opened on the opposite direction from the tower which was really, really fortunate. Ed peeked around the corner. No one on the roof, then took a glance through her rifle scope if the other sniper was paying attention to her or not. The man was busy hurriedly putting his equipment away. Clear. At least she knew that their perpetrator was male, brown hair, darker skin, early-mid 30s. She ran for the little ledge that fenced the rooftop and threw herself on her stomach as she quickly set up the sniper rifle to shoot.

Edeline looked through the lens, aimed, took a deep breath, exhaled, then pulled the trigger. She managed to graze the man's shoulder just as he disappeared behind the metal structure that held the tower together.

"Dammit," Ed cursed. The shooter never came out from the blind spot though, probably began his descent from the tower.  _Fucking reports that I will have to fill out for the fired bullet that didn't even hit the target properly…_

The lieutenant colonel quickly gathered her stuff then ran back down the stairs, grabbing the radio on her shoulder along the way. Hawkeye had already sent off their VIPs with their personal guards to return to HQ and turned to her questioningly.

"Don't even ask. I only grazed his shoulder," Ed told the other sniper, then turned the radio back on. "Our suspect is male, mid-30s, dark skin and hair, slight shoulder wound from a gunshot," the older Elric reported in. "Kate, how's the roadblock coming along? We can't let him get away. Relay the info to the MPs and have them issue a BOLO with that description, also notify the hospitals and clinics just in case he manages to escape and is a complete retard."

That comment prompted a small amused smile from Riza.

"We should hurry," Hawkeye suggested once Kain confirmed that two units were already on site making sure no one got in or out of the area.

"Go get us a car, I'll collect Mustang and Havoc," Ed handed off her rifle to the Captain and ran towards the stands.

The evacuation was almost complete so the MPs could handle the rest, but just to make sure they left Breda there to supervise. The three of them left hurriedly and made their way to the street where Riza was already waiting with the engine running.

Within five minutes they were on site. The radio tower was surrounded, the question was whether the MPs had arrived in time or the culprit had already escaped. Not to mention they didn't know if the building had a basement which might or might not have a connection to the sewers like many buildings in Central.

Roy requested a search party for the building, and also for someone to go to the archives and get them the blueprints. It was neat to have a General as a boss that was for sure. Basically, anything he said flew without questions really asked.

They weren't going to wait for them to arrive though, Roy just left the MPs with instructions to start searching the basement and other possible exits, while the team made their way up to the top to see if their perpetrator had the chance to get down yet. Four stories weren't that much, and it wasn't exactly an office building with lots of hiding places either. Mainly just a staircase all the way to the top where the radio towers were.

In the end, all that fuss was really useless, because they found the man on the landing of floor three, bleeding quite badly from his shoulder. Not exactly life-threatening – at least for another half an hour or so – but enough that he couldn't continue with his escape, so not just a graze on his right shoulder after all.

"That was a better shot than I thought," Ed mused out loud. Actually quite perfect. This way they could interrogate him. Well, at least after they patched him up at the hospital.

"Good job," Hawkeye patted her on the shoulder with a proud smile.

* * *

It was already 5 PM, and Mustang was still at it with the shooter in the interrogation room. The team watched from the other side of the one-way glass. The guy was supposedly Luigi Lucheni, and he was adamant that he was working alone. He claimed he wanted the prince dead because he was a weakling, unworthy of the Aerugian throne if he was going to give into Amestris this easily after the years of humiliation they had to endure.

It just sounded too good to be true. But he wouldn't budge from that standpoint no matter the General's interrogation techniques, which truth be told were quite frightening at times.

"Don't you think we should change tactics? The bastard has gone too far into the bad cop role. Maybe someone could soften him up which a different approach," Ed commented as she watched Roy snap his fingers again threateningly, making the flames stop just in front of Luigi's face.

"I can go in," Riza suggested.

"Don't take it the wrong way, but you are just as frightening sometimes," the ex-alchemist shuddered.

Just then Grumman entered the observation room, looking at Hawkeye for answers. If Ed cared even a tiny bit about rank and status in the military, it would have irked her that he didn't ask her, given that she was the senior ranking officer in the room, but in actuality, the golden-eyed blonde was glad that she was left alone.

"Good, I will notify the crown prince that the culprit has been apprehended. Given his attitude so far I'm guessing he will insist on the ball to be held according to plan this evening," the Führer sighed once the captain had told him their initial findings, clearly not exactly agreeing with that prospect.

Neither did the team, but what could they do?

* * *

They had an hour to go home and change into… proper black tie attire for the welcoming ball that was held at the Armstrong mansion. Edeline was even lucky to own a suit. She didn't even know what she had bought it for. Probably never even actually wore it, yet it was in her closet. She wouldn't have put it past Mustang to have someone sneak into her apartment at one point or another to place it there.

Even after putting it on she just stared at her reflection in the mirror. She wanted to cry. All these weird outfits they kept putting her in. First that dress at the bar, then the uniform, now a suit. All Ed wanted was just to wear the good old leather pants, black shirt, and red coat.  _Was that so much to ask?_  At least no one expected her to be in a ball gown…

As she stood there in her inner turmoil, she noticed Winry in the mirror as she entered the room. She was wearing a pale pink floor-length dress, with a beautiful floral/bow hairpiece in the same color. She looked absolutely stunning. So much so that Ed went a little pink in the cheeks herself, but the frown over her own clothes had not yet left her face.

"You look fine, don't worry," the mechanic commented, clearly knowing Ed too well to not know the reason behind that facial expression. "Here, let me do your tie," she offered and began her ministrations around Ed's collar.

Edeline watched her work, taking in every little detail of her face. She had make-up on. Not exactly much, but just enough to highlight her bright eyes. She was concentrating really hard on getting that double windsor knot perfect. Ed just couldn't resist kissing that little spot between her brows that scrunched up in the effort. Of course, that would have been much more elegant if she was taller than Winry. But noooo… As she leaned forward and stood on her tippy toes to reach Winry's forehead she almost fell forward and brought both of them to the floor.

"What the hell are you doing?" the blue-eyed blonde laughed out as she caught herself on the table, stabilizing Ed in the process too.

"You'll get wrinkles if you keep frowning like that," the ex-alchemist muttered embarrassedly.

"Are you telling me I'm getting old?" Winry cried out, taken aback.

"That's not what I meant, geez! You look absolutely beautiful, it's just that you always get this little crease right here when you are so serious about something. I just wanted to kiss it so you would stop doing that," Ed explained, lightly touching the spot in question and finally got to actually kiss it, now thoroughly red in the face from embarrassment.

"You think I'm beautiful?" the other girl asked shyly, looking at her hands instead of Ed.

The older Elric didn't know what to say. Surely she had told her that before, right?

"Y-you… you are the most beautiful girl I had ever seen," she finally admitted, totally flustered by her admission.

"Thank you," Winry said after a few seconds as her surprise wore down and a fond smile appeared on her face, giving Ed a chaste kiss on the cheek.  _Not helping the blushing situation at all!_  "Now let me finish that damned tie."

When they finally emerged from the bedroom, Al and Elena were already waiting for them. As Winry was Ed's plus one, Al ended up taking the new girl with him.  _Mei is still not going to like this, not one bit… but oh hell… not my balls that are on the line!_  – Ed snickered inwardly.

She almost teared up at the sight of her little brother though, all dapper and cute in smoking. (Ed was not willing to go that far, a black suit and tie had to suffice for a black tie event right? Bow ties were ridiculous in her opinion, except on Alphonse of course.) Elena was wearing a pale blue puffy dress and white gloves that seriously just made her look even younger and quite frankly like a little princess.  _Seriously how old was she? And where are her parents? Aren't they worried?_  It was evident to Ed that the girl had a crush on her brother, but he seemed to be just that. Acted like a big brother towards her.

One might question why the siblings were invited to a ball with royalty present. The Elric brothers – at least that's how the public thought of them – were national heroes. Of course, they would be invited to any major social event (not that they went that often, given that Al was mostly out of the country and Ed just declined, blaming it on her military duties why she wouldn't be able to make it). Not to mention that Ed was also going in an official capacity this time. Again she was really sorry that she wouldn't be able to give Winry her full attention, but at least the place would be crawling with security anyway, so it wasn't their team's sole responsibility to keep the higher ups safe but still. They needed to have eyes in the room who weren't that obviously on guard duty. After the late morning's events, everyone was on edge and on the lookout in case something might happen. Incidentally, she made Al promise to make sure their little mystery girl was always in sight.

With another big sigh, they were out the door and into the car that was sent for them by Alex Louis Armstrong. (Just to make sure Ed wouldn't escape at the last minute.)

* * *

High society events were definitely not Ed's thing. She really didn't know what to do with herself. Winry clung tightly to her offered arm though, obviously enjoying being seen with Ed like this. As they made it through the door, they were properly announced as Edward Elric and Winry Rockbell. She wanted so desperately roll her eyes at that.  _Mustang you better get your butt up to the top soon because I really am tired of this…_  Almost ten years. That was a hell lot of a time to pretend you were someone you were not, and for some reason, it was starting to bother her. She wanted to be herself.

"Alphonse Elric and Elena Fiori," the butler announced the next pair as he tapped his staff to the ground.

Prince Claudio, who was already present, turned with a horrified expression towards the door, only for a split second, but enough for Ed to catch.  _He knew her?_  But he made no other move. He didn't approach but didn't seem like he wanted to flee either, his expression unreadable.

"So where are you from Elena?" Ed talked her up once they got their welcome champagne and settled in by the wall, a little farther from the crowd of the standing reception.

"I'm from Aerugo," she said without hesitation and oh so innocently. It, of course, set off a red flag in Ed's mind immediately. "I always wanted to visit Amestris, but my brothers wouldn't let me, especially the oldest, given that we were at war for so long. He always dreamed of a time when finally this conflict would be laid to rest for good. Well, not just this one. He always said that he was going to strive for world peace," Elena confessed with a fond smile at the mention of her brother.

"Your brother sounds like an idealist," the ex-alchemist commented as she sipped on her champagne.

"Ed…" Winry tried to intervene before she said something rude.

"Elena! What are you doing here?" came the low but accusing voice of none other than the crown prince of Aerugo from behind their backs.

All of them spun around at lightning speed, but what happened next was even more surprising.

"Brother!" Elena exclaimed, hugging the stunned heir to the throne around his waist.

"WHAT?" all three of Ed, Al and Winry exclaimed at the same time. That was certainly unexpected.

"You are Princess Elena?" Ed thought that she should have made the connection earlier, they knew from the intel reports that the royal family had fourteen children. Thirteen princes and one precious daughter, their youngest, named Elena.

"I thought I told you to stay back home. Does the king know you snuck out of the palace? How did you even get here?" the crown prince exasperatedly ran his hand through his hair. This was the first time he seemed like a normal human being since Ed first laid eyes on him.  _I guess younger siblings do kind of have that effect on you…_

"By train. Only Emilia knows, but she vowed to keep it a secret!" the red-haired girl nodded in all seriousness. "It's not like dad would notice… he is too busy… with ruling."

"Who is Emilia?" Al asked sweetly.

"My lady in attendance, but maybe nanny would be a better term. She has been by my side since I was two," Elena explained sweetly. It was clear that they were really close with this woman, but Ed wondered how much longer she would be kept around the court if they found out that she let the princess sneak out from the palace without supervision, to another country nonetheless.

"How old are you exactly now?" Ed cut in after downing the rest of her champagne.

"Fifteen," she spun around to face the blonde with a defiant vehemence as if the mere idea that she was only a child was abhorrent to her.

"More than I would have guessed," Ed muttered under her breath.  _Seriously what was it with teenaged royalty? First Ling then Mei, now this Elena girl. Somehow they always find us!_

"I presume it is you who I owe my gratitude to for keeping my sister safe, Alphonse Elric," Claudio Rico turned towards Al, given that Elena seemed to be gravitating towards him and gave a little bow with his head in appreciation.

"No, not at all, it wasn't a problem, Sir!" Al exclaimed suddenly sheepish with the attention of royalty on him.

By this time all eyes were on their little group, everyone whispering, trying to figure out the meaning behind the crown prince's sudden interest in them.

"Anyway, it was lovely to finally meet the Fullmetal Alchemist and his companions. If you will excuse me," he stated in a louder voice before he left their group.

"What was that all about? I thought you spent the last few days protecting him," Winry whispered to Ed, looking at her in confusion.

"I did, but he needed some kind of excuse to stop the staring. And I presume he didn't exactly want to reveal that his sister is present. Although I think that is a moot point, we were kind of loud earlier," Ed shrugged as she assessed the few stares that were still trained on them.

"Care to elaborate on that?" Mustang made his way to them, a little curious smirk on his face.

"Not really, ask the damn prince if you are that interested," the ex-alchemist hissed at him in a low voice so no one else would hear.

"We have to go to the ladies room. We'll be right back," Winry announced to them, Elena holding her hand. Ed narrowed her eyes a bit at that but reminded herself that jealousy was indeed a nasty emotion to have, not one she would rather have after knowing Envy.

"Al, go with them, just to make sure," Ed motioned for her brother, reminding him of the promise to keep an eye on the girl.

"We are totally capable of going on our own!" Winry huffed and dragged off the younger girl. Alphonse looked at Ed in confusion.

"Just go already," she nudged him on, and he followed after them with a shake of his head.

"Still no comment?" Roy asked in amusement at their exchange.

"Nope," the blonde replied, stressing the 'p' as she turned her attention back to the room full of fancy pants.

Twenty minutes went by, but Al and the girls were still not back. Edeline was starting to get worried, so she went to find them. It wasn't exactly a hard task, she spotted Alphonse where expected him to be, standing alone by the entrance to the ladies room, looking all panicky.

"What's up, Al?" Ed asked with a frown.

"They are taking really long," he replied worriedly.

"No shit, Sherlock," Ed commented, not even noticing Al's raised brow at the weird and out of place name she called him, as she was looking around. She quickly found Hawkeye not too far away and went up to her. The ex-alchemist almost didn't recognize the sniper at first in her Xingese style high-collar purple dress, only her signature pinned up hair gave her away for Ed.

"Would you mind checking on Winry and Elena in the restroom? They are taking awfully long," the lieutenant colonel pleaded seriously.  _Now it would have been really convenient if I didn't have to pretend to be a guy…_

"Sure," Riza agreed without hesitation.

Within less than a minute she was back out.

"There is no one inside… but there is a message on the mirror addressed to Prince Claudio," the Captain stated in a grim tone, then left to notify the guards to have the place locked down until they find out what had happened. Ed burst into the ladies room without another question.

 _IF YOU WANT YOUR PRINCESS BACK ALIVE CEASE ALL PEACE TALKS WITH AMESTRIS!_  – was written on the mirror with bright red lipstick, the little high up window open that could be just big enough to fit the girls through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Luigi Lucheni was the anarchist who murdered Elisabeth of Austria (Sisi), Empress consort of Austria–Hungary, on 10 September 1898. Given that Aerugo seems to be going on the lines of Italy, I borrowed that name :D I for some reason wanted it to be Luigi form the beginning then remembered this historical fact and decided to just use that last name.


	13. Just can't catch a break

"What's going on?"

A furious Olivier Mira Armstrong with Alex right in her tow trotted up to Mustang as he ordered the mansion on lockdown until they could account for all the guests and staff to see who was missing and possibly behind the assumed kidnapping. Ed for a moment looked at her with bewilderment, she had no idea the Major General was attending the ball, despite this being her home too.  _When did she come down from Briggs?_ For some reason, it didn't even surprise Ed that the Ice Queen decided to wear her dress uniform instead of an actual gown. And Alex… well he was himself as usual. His suit jacket outsparkled everyone in the room.

"We have two guests gone missing from the ladies room, with a threat made toward our royal guest," the Lieutenant General replied. It was clear that the only thing holding Olivier back from lashing out for ordering people around in her house was that Mustang now outranked her. "Please, set up a room upstairs where I can question the guests and staff whether they have seen anything, also I need a guest list and the names of all the staff present tonight and anyone else who might have had access without looking out of place. If you can start accounting for them, that would be great too, General Armstrong."

"Yes, Sir," she managed to grit through her teeth and stalked off, issuing orders to her men who she trusted. One of them came to them to escort Roy, Ed, and Al to a room upstairs.

"Geez, you are unpopular," Ed commented to Mustang once they were left alone.

"Now, care to tell me who the girl with you was?" Roy pointedly directed the question at Ed ignoring her jabbing, but before she could answer, Prince Claudio burst in with Hawkeye in tow, who was looking at them apologetically for being unable to stop him.

"Where is Elena? What happened to my sister?" the crown prince worriedly asked, obviously the rumors already started flying around among the guests.

"I think that is your answer, Mustang," the ex-alchemist huffed.

"Sir, please don't panic, but it seems Princess Elena and Edward's companion named Winry were abducted from the ladies room," the General informed their royal guest.

"What? How did this happen? How are you sure it wasn't this Winry person who kidnapped her?" he accused, clearly ticking Ed off. It was only Al that kept her from jumping the man and punching him in the face.

"Hey, watch it!" she exclaimed through her gritted teeth. "My girlfriend would never do something like that!"  _Did I just call her my girlfriend? Yeah, I totally did…_

"It isn't exactly easy to trust your word, Ms. Elric, since you aren't even the person you say you are," the crown prince lay the facts at the door.

"How the hell do you know about that?" Edeline hissed.  _Where did I slip up? If a complete stranger was able to figure it out, anyone could!_

"Everyone, calm down, I assure you that all my men are trustworthy, and there is a legitimate reason behind hiding Ed's real identity, but I must ask you to keep it between us for now. The rest of the team is already running the checks whether anyone else from the guests or staff is missing as well," Roy authoritatively stepped in between them. "There was a threat left specifically for you, stating that if you wanted her back alive, you are to end the negotiations with Amestris. Do you know anyone who would have motive to thwart the peace talks, and who would have known about the princess' whereabouts?"

"She snuck out. Earlier she told me only her former nanny, Emilia Lucheni knew that she came here, but by now surely the whole castle is aware of her absence," he exasperatedly ran his hand through his hair again.  _Must be a nervous habit._  – Ed thought. "As for enemies, there are a few… parties… who are opposed to the idea of so easily making peace."

"Lucheni?" Ed and Roy looked at each other. No doubt about it, the cases were connected.

"Alphonse, I need you to tell me everything from the moment you met the princess, where was that, who did she meet since then, what has she told you, every detail might be of significance," Mustang prompted impatiently. "Meanwhile Ed, escort the crown prince back. Hawkeye, take another shot at Luigi. He is definitely not telling something."

* * *

After dropping the totally devastated Claudio back with his guard, Edeline grudgingly stomped back and forth. She was itching to do something useful, and right now she felt utterly out of place and useless. If she still had her alchemy, she would have surely rushed after them already and beat them to a pulp until they coughed up Winry and Elena. She was so worried. What if they did something to Winry? They had no use for her, she wasn't leverage to them like Elena.  _Why was it that she always got into trouble because of me? I'm a terrible influence in her life…_

Just as Ed was wallowing in guilt, Roy reemerged from the room with Al, frowning as he took in Ed's expression.

"Don't even think about it," he ordered in a clipped tone.

"What?" Ed cried out taken aback.

"I know that look. That is when you get bold ideas that usually end with you blowing up a building and leaving me with a bunch of paperwork and clean-up to handle," the General complained humorlessly.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, bastard," she guiltily averted her gaze and scratched her chin.  _I didn't blow up_ that  _many buildings, right? Especially not since the Promised Day… maybe just two… and one was a freak alchemy accident that wasn't even my doing, and the other was on his freaking orders… Though dynamite is not nearly as elegant as alchemy…_

Roy sighed and continued as if reading her mind. "I know you are worried about Ms. Rockbell, but you don't have alchemy anymore, Ed. You'll just end up hurting yourself if you act like you are invincible. I'm not sure your right arm is up for more breaking."

That incident again…  _I'm never going to live that down, aren't I?_ In the labs, a metal rack fell over because one of the scientists was clumsy as hell. Ed tried to block the thing landing on her with her right arm and ended up with a fracture. She could have just jumped out of the way, but habit dictated that her right arm was supposed to be sturdier auto-mail instead of flesh and bone. Mind you, the whole thing would have fallen on the klutz too so she couldn't just let him get hurt. Still, given the six weeks in the cast, it was so not worth it.

"That was like three years ago, don't hold it against me still!" Ed burst out.

"What is this about you break your arm, Brother?" Al decided to join in chidingly.

"Nothing… it wouldn't be the first time anyway that I broke something…" she muttered with a nervous laugh. "Anyway, are you going to keep in the loop or what? What did that bastard want to know?"

"I wasn't much of a help, sorry. I just told him that we just stumbled upon Elena – quite literally – in the market when she was about to be hit by a car. Then she stayed with us for the night. We didn't see anything suspicious nor did she say anything that I can remember that could help us right now," her brother apologetically explained.

"Sorry to interrupt, Boss!" Havoc approached with a big smirk on his face probably due to their antics and banter. "We just got finished with checking the attendees, everyone is accounted for except a waitress named Maria Sala," he finished, handing over his notes that he had scribbled down after contacting Falman to do a quick check on this person and the paperwork they had at the catering agency that sent her, accompanied by a photo. Definitely Aerugian ancestry by the look of things.

"Do we have any info on her, how she is connected?" Mustang asked as he skimmed through.

"Not much, but she is an illegal immigrant, and that's a fake name for sure," the lieutenant pointed out.

"What? No one did background checks on the staff for the event?" the General inquired, outraged by that oversight.

"She had a pretty good forge for passport and paperwork, we wouldn't have caught it either if we hadn't started digging deeper because of the incident," Jean shrugged.

Meanwhile, Ed tried to inconspicuously sneak away, but Al had a pretty good handle on her collar.

"Fullmetal…" Roy glared at the blonde, who quit struggling against her brother with a yelp. "Alright, do we have any word from Hawkeye? Did she get anything else out of our shooter?" he asked.

"Nothing yet," Havoc shook his head.

"Anyway, I want to question the rest of the staff regarding Ms. Sala or whatever her name is, meanwhile take Ed and ask around between the guests if they had seen anything," Mustang declared and went back into the room.

"I'll come with," Al declared.

A good hour passed and the guests knew jack shit, which had Ed agitated even more.  _We are wasting precious time!_  She was just stomping her way back to the makeshift interrogation room when she saw one of the other employees in the manor knocking on it.

"Excuse me, Sir, you have a phone call," the redhead butler handed the receiver to the General when he poked his head out.

"General Mustang speaking…" he answered the phone. "What is it Fuery?" Ed tried her best to hear the other end too, she had a feeling it was important but no such luck, she had to wait till the bastard hung up and ask him about it. "Alright, we will be on our way shortly… thirty minutes tops… yes, please let the Captain know too. She should be in the interrogation room."

"What happened?" Ed impatiently inquired.

"That's all of my questions, for now, thank you for your cooperation," Mustang ignored her first to dismiss one of the other waiters who he had just been questioning.

Once he left and was out of earshot, Roy continued to speak. "There was an anonymous report about three suspicious hooded figures taking two girls into the train yard."

"Then what the hell are we waiting for?" the ex-alchemist shouted with determination.

"Given how personal this matter is for you I would rather you staying here," her CO declared with a scowl, but it didn't miss Ed's attention that that wasn't an actual order.

"No fucking way!" she protested. "I'm not staying behind when Winry's life is on the line!"

"Sir, I'd like to come too," Al walked up to them.

"Not a chance!" Ed exclaimed without a second thought. Roy seemed to lean on that opinion too, given that the younger Elric was non-military.

"It's my fault that they were kidnapped. Besides I'm guessing you could always use another alchemist around," he winked, rubbing his hand together, apparently ready for action. The older sibling groaned in frustration. She hated the fact that now even her brother would be in danger, especially that he wasn't a suit of armor anymore.

Mustang looked between the Elrics for a few seconds then just shrugged. "Let's head out, we don't have time to waste."

* * *

Luigi's lips were still sealed despite Riza's less than polite approach to the interrogation, so their only lead was the anonymous phone call.

The train yard was a big maze of warehouses and hangar-like buildings with tracks and wagons everywhere. In other words, a perfect place to be ambushed. Not really the best. So Hawkeye set herself up on one of the stadium lamps that illuminated the area, thus having perfect view while staying hidden so that she could have their backs. She confirmed their positions then began scanning the area through her rifle scope to better direct their search.

Ed still wasn't happy about dragging Al along, but at least he was put in the same gear as everyone else, minus the guns. Her little brother was much more dangerous with a clap of his hands.

On Mustang's silent orders they quickly spread out and combed through the area, checking every nook and cranny on and in the train cabooses and buildings, but even after ten minutes no luck yet. That is when the blond sniper's voice suddenly rang in their ears.

"200 meters south of my position there is a little control post building, movement in the windows. Only had visual on one suspect for now, female, possibly Maria Sala," Riza reported as she set herself up to better monitor that area. If this weren't a hostage situation, she would have taken out the woman right that instant, but it would be too risky with no way of knowing where Winry and Elena were located exactly and who else might have been with them.

The team converged around the indicated area and on Roy's hand signals they had the building surrounded without being noticed. The walls were pretty thin though, and they could hear two women arguing inside.

"This wasn't the plan!"

"Shut up! If your brother had just hit the target like he was supposed to, we wouldn't be in this mess! I had to improvise. It was impossible to get near enough to the prince at the banquet, but how lucky for us that a certain little princess just couldn't keep still. At least your info was correct regarding this!"

"But Elena has nothing to do with this! She is just a child."

"We could kill two birds with one stone. She is just like her brother. Both of them are weak, pathetic idealists. At least the other princes have the guts to do what they have to in order to finally bring the glory to Aerugo that it deserves."

A man's voice joined the conversation.

"Be quiet and check the outside. We wouldn't want to be found out here. Meanwhile, I will take care of our little guests."

That was their cue to start moving before either they were seen or the third perpetrator inside could do something to the hostages that now were confirmed to be there.

They quickly stormed the place and apprehended the two women and the man. But to their surprise, the place was empty besides that.

"What the fuck?" Ed cursed. She was sure the way the male spoke that they had the girls here. In her rage, she pushed the cuffed man up against the wall with much ease due to the adrenalin rush despite him being almost twice her size. "Where are the hostages?"

The man instead of saying anything just spat in her face.

"Why you little…" she hissed in pure outrage raising a fist to punch him.

"Let me take it from here," Mustang stepped in, he motioned for the others to take the man and one of the women out, leaving him with who he thought was Emilia Lucheni, given the frightened and uncertain expression she was giving them so unlike the other two. Meanwhile, the other two suspects were gagged just to make sure that they didn't cause a ruckus and draw unwanted attention to them.

"Emilia, I presume," he began as he crouched down beside the woman. The shock was evident in the former nanny's features.

"H-how?" she stuttered.

"We have our sources. But what's more important is that we have a common goal here, I think. Neither of us wants to see Elena get hurt," Roy continued while keeping his gaze steady on her eyes and features.

The hesitation and inner turmoil over whether to follow her own heart or her companions' agenda were evident. It was also apparent that she lacked the conviction the others had for their cause. It was probable that her brother dragged her into this, sought her out because of her connection to the court, or maybe he had some dirt on her that he was blackmailing her with.

"I never intended for this happen…" Emilia sobbed suddenly. "Elena was never supposed to have gotten caught up in this."

"Where are they? You can still prevent this tragedy," Mustang insisted.

"Under the rug over there…" the woman finally motioned with her head. "There is a hidden door with a tiny basement."

"Thank you," Mustang said in a firm voice then rose to his feet and opened the door, motioning for someone to take the suspect out.

Havoc walked in and escorted the woman out to be supervised by the rest of the team, while Ed burst in impatiently just as Roy kicked the rug up, revealing a trap door, just as Emilia had said.

Opening it up, they found Winry and Elena a little shaken up but otherwise unharmed.

"Thank Truth!" Edeline cried out in relief as she embraced the wide-eyed blonde after Roy cut her ropes and removed the gag from her mouth. On that cue, Al came in too, and Elena had him hugged around the waist in less than a second. Winry quietly sobbed against her neck, while fisting Ed's military jacket from behind.

After a few minutes, Mustang signaled for them that they had to get moving. As they left the tiny building, all hell broke loose again. Several things happened simultaneously.

Hawkeye reported to them that they were getting company, but just as she said that a grenade was thrown at them. Al brought up a wall to protect them from the blast, while the sniper took out the two men that attacked them in swift succession.

The problem was that the previously captured man managed to wiggle free from his restraints while they were busy taking cover. Before any of them had time to react, he pulled a previously well-hidden gun from his boots and aimed it at Elena, but instead shot Al almost right through his heart, who had pushed the girl out of the way, not having enough time to bring up another protective wall.

In the next second the gunman was shot clean through the head by Hawkeye, but the damage was done already. Winry and Elena screamed in horror, while Ed sprinted those few meters that separated her from her brother.

He was bleeding out really fast, there was absolutely no way he would make it to the hospital where they could patch him up. While furiously trying to put as much pressure on the wound as possible, she rummaged through her brain for a way she could do to save him.  _Damn my lack of alchemy!_  If she was going to use his Gate in this condition, he wouldn't make it either way.  _Think! Think!_  Her only option seemed to be…

"Winry!" Ed yelled suddenly at the shocked girl. "I need you to help me out here. Apply as much pressure as you can!"

Winry confusedly obliged, tears streaming down on her face. Meanwhile, Ed began to draw up transmutation circle with a heptagon inside. She wasn't sure why, but she felt like that was a needed adjustment to her previously used pentagon. It was a mixture of gut instinct and a fraction of a second flash of a memory where she seemed to have seen this modification before.

"Is that what I think it is?" Roy asked dubiously. The design seemed very familiar to the one Ed used four years ago to bring Al back, except if he remembered correctly there used to be a pentagon inside.

Edeline didn't say anything, nor did she ask to use his Gate. She couldn't. It wasn't his responsibility, and she wasn't going to drag him into something so risky.

"Step away, Winry," the golden-eyed blonde stated once she was done drawing up the necessary transmutation circle, her voice full of mixed emotions… guilt, longing, love, determination, sadness.

"But…" the mechanic looked confusedly between the siblings. If she let go, he was inevitably going to die. Or Ed would do something stupid and they both would. But if she didn't the ex-alchemist would hate her forever for not letting her try and bring her brother back. Not to mention Mei. Still, she had no idea what Edeline tried to accomplish given that she didn't have her alchemy anymore.

When she saw that Ed wasn't going to budge and that she apparently had a plan, Winry quickly stepped outside the circle and clung to the younger girl in the pale blue dress who was equally heart-broken over the situation.

In that instant, Ed clapped Al's hands together and brought them to the circle then to each of their chests.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sala means "worker at a manor house" from Old French salle. This had me cracking up :D  
> I know I'm evil, another cliffhanger. The next chapter should be the last...


	14. Nothing I won't give

This was probably the most complex transmutation Edeline had performed to date yet. Not only did she use her brother's Gate, which ultimately sped up his dying process but used her own life energy to seal his wounds – with a touch of alkahestry in there – then pulled his slipping soul back from the Gate yet again and reattached it to his body all in one go. Sure, she had done each of these separately before, but that's a whole different story.

The problem was that at least one of these should be considered human transmutation and she absolutely had no toll to pay lest with her own life.  _Winry is so going to kill me…_  – was the last thought she had before the white void enveloped her.

In that instant, her memories started flooding into her mind. Everyone and everything that she had only caught small glances of in the past month when Al allowed her to use his Gate, suddenly all came into focus with meaning.

New York, Steve, Wanda, Peter, Tony, Natasha, Clint, Bruce – the Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D., the future in the alternate world, the mutants and other various superhuman beings, technological advancement they only dreamed of in Amestris. All their adventures, laughs, her own freaking manga and anime show, their support over everything. She remembered it all.

And then there was London and Hogwarts, Harry and the Weasleys, Hermione, magic and all sorts of peculiar stuff. Her magic! The extensive research that had led to the circle she even used just now. Dumbledore, the manipulative old wizard. Finally, her way back home, how she gave up her memories just to give him a chance to save Harry. She wondered how that had turned out in the end.

All her worries and weird feelings that she had in those first few months while Al was in the hospital, even the freaking milk flavored jellybean in her pocket suddenly made sense as she stood there before the omnipotent being, who seemed… rather surprised.

"Well, certainly not the sibling I was expecting," Truth scratched its head.

Ed stoically looked around the all too familiar whiteness. How many times has it been? This was the seventh… the most magical number of them all. And surely the last. She just couldn't really see at this point how she was going to get away with her life this time.

The white being looked curiously behind Ed's back.

"That is definitely not your Gate," it stated the obvious.

"I know, I gave that up," she stood there nonchalantly.

"Interesting…" Truth hummed deep in thought. Ed would have wanted to ask what was so damn interesting, but in the grander scheme of things, it didn't really matter.

"I don't even know what to do with you. This certainly hasn't happened before," the frustration was evident in the being's voice.

"Are you telling me no one had ever tried human transmutation before using someone else's Gate?" the ex-alchemist asked, unable to stop herself.

"Well, not just human transmutation. I should have known there was something fishy with the way energy flowed through here a couple of times in the past month. It just wasn't Alphonse's style at all."

Now it walked up and right past Ed to the Gate and placed a hand on it as it contemplated further. The blonde stepped aside to give it more space.

"This is not the only Gate you tried accessing, was it?" Truth asked finally.

"No, it wasn't," she admitted. No point in lying here, it already knew the answer anyway.

"You know… if it weren't for your already intertwined minds, or if you had used anyone else's Gate, you'd both be dead now," Truth stated turning its eyeless face towards her.

"Does that mean Al is okay?" that was the only relevant question to her right at that moment.

"It appears so. Although this is the second time now that you have used your own life force for healing… I wonder just how much time you have left in the world," it skimmed its hand over the design at the bottom part of the Gate and turned around to walk back to its usual place in the center – if there was such a thing in an endless place.

"What about his soul?" Ed inquired. That was the tricky part, the reason they were here and for what she surely had to pay.

"You were fast enough, it hadn't reached the Gate yet when you bound it back to his healing body."

"Good." That was a relief. Although given that the transmutation was a success, she should have guessed as much. There was no amount of alchemy to bring Al back if he had died before she could finish the transmutation.

"Aren't you the least bit worried about yourself?" Truth cocked its head to the side. It would have even been funny if it weren't for the situation.

"I think you know me better than anyone else at this point. There is really nothing I wouldn't give for my little brother," Ed smiled to herself. That song had really summed her up well… it was nice knowing the origin of that too with her memories returning.

It was weird talking like this with the omnipotent being. Almost as if they were friends. None of that mocking attitude it always used to give her during the previous visits. Then another thing occurred to Ed. Maybe there wasn't just one Truth, and this one was Al's, given that she just came through his Gate. It just seemed so much humbler than the cocky bastard she usually saw.

"You are neither wrong nor right in your assumption. Everyone's Truth is slightly different, but in the end, we are all one and the same, just maybe a different side, aspect of it. Your situation is even more unique like I said before because ever since that first human transmutation you managed to intertwine your Gates together. In a sense, you guys are inseparable for the rest of your lives."

Edeline stayed silent as she mulled over this information.

"Does that mean if I die he dies?" panic suddenly overtook her again, since she was sure she was going to die here right now.

"No! Not at all. Although given your history I'm sure he would do something equally drastic to prevent that if you were come to pass prematurely, which could end up causing you both to die. But that is a whole different question," Truth smiled with a hint of disapproval.

The ex-alchemist relaxed at that, it would have been terrible to fail at this just because their very first sin caused their lives to be so irrevocable connected.

"But that is also exactly the reason why you seem to have regained your memories when you entered even though they were lost in equivalent exchange. Since your minds are connected, the residue of those remained here, and memories are just as attracted to the mind they belong to as a soul is to its own body," the omniscient being explained. Nothing could avoid its attention in this realm.

"So what now?" Ed asked finally after a few moments of silence.

"Good question. You know I told you before a person's sole purpose for living is to get enriched by their struggles, providing a way for the universe to experience itself. Now, as you may imagine, there hasn't been much new under the sun for quite some time, believe me. But… you managed to bring along something I haven't seen before. You standing here now before me defies all logic and previous knowledge of the world or alchemy," it spread its arms then let them fall back by its side.

"I'm flattered… I guess…" the blonde cocked a brow. Making monumental discoveries surely wasn't on her agenda.

"Last time Al's soul cost you your right arm, hasn't it…" Truth asked rhetorically as seemed to contemplate further their current predicament.

"Yes…" Ed trailed off.

"Anyway… off you go… but I must warn you, if you ever cross this place again, nothing short of a Philosopher's Stone will save you. And we both know how much you hate using other people's souls…" the white being suddenly said in an almost happy-go-lucky attitude that combined with his words was quite creepy.

And with that Al's Gate opened behind Edeline and she was sucked back in once more.

* * *

She came to abruptly, sucking in a large breath, disoriented with her surroundings. It was dark, but even with that, she could make out the clinical whiteness of the place, not to mention the distinct smell of disinfectant.

_Hospital… Great…_

She was hooked on a heart monitor, and a thin line of plastic tube was under her nose that kept pumping precious oxygen for her to breathe, an IV line set up in her hand. It irritated her as fuck.

She began pulling off all the stuff that was attached to her, causing the machine to go from rhythmically beeping to an annoying whistling sound.

Ed only now realized that someone was sleeping with their head on her bed when they suddenly jerked awake by the ruckus she was making. That someone being Winry.

"What are you doing, idiot?" she asked pushing back the other blonde onto the bed.

"Geez, I'm fine! Quit being so bossy," the ex-alchemist exclaimed in frustration over the fussing.

"You weren't fine, Ed, you were in a coma for the last five hours," the mechanic explained with tears gathering in her eyes.

"I'm fine now, so c'mere," the golden-eyed blonde opened her arms, inviting the other to settle in between in them.

Without another thought Winry clambered on the bed and began crying into the crook of Ed's neck, the previously held back tears mercilessly overflowing.

"I was so worried," the mechanic managed between sobs.

"Shhh, it's okay,– Ed tried to calm her girlfriend.

Just then a nurse… who else would it be… Nurse Nora came rushing in because of the alarm the heart monitor had set off at the nurse's station.

"What in the world?!" Nora assessed first the two blondes huddled on the bed then realizing that her patient was conscious again, she stalked over to the monitor and turned it off, plus removed the IV correctly before Ed could hurt herself with it. "If it were anyone else, Ms. Elric…" she wiggled her index finger admonishingly but let them be. "I'll notify your doctor that you are awake."

And with that, she left. Ed looked to the side and was just about able to catch the first rays of dawn peeking over the horizon.  _Did she just call me miss?_  Looking down on her clothes she realized that she was only wearing a hospital gown. At one point or another, she was stripped of her uniform, not to mention the bandages.  _Well, that cat is out of the bag…_  a whole new set of problems to deal with, but that could wait until tomorrow or whenever they decided she was well enough to bust out of this place. For now, she was content with having her girl in her arms.

"I love you, Winry, sorry for causing you so much grief," she whispered in Winry's ears as she rubbed her back soothingly. Near death experiences certainly put things in perspective.

"W-what did you just say?" azure blue eyes widened as she looked up at Ed.

"I love you, Winry," the ex-alchemist repeated with a distinct blush creeping up on her face.

"I love you too," Winry replied, first brushing her lips against the other blonde's to test the waters, then full on claiming them.

"Khm, khm," came a distinct coughing sound from the door to bring their attention to the doctor standing there.

The two women jumped apart faster than the speed of light, thoroughly embarrassed and flustered by the fact that they were caught. Winry also climbed off the bed to leave space for the professionals. The physician named Dr. Wenworth then proceeded to check Edeline out quickly and found everything normal, much to their surprise. Ed wasn't that worried about herself, using your own life energy to heal someone else could be tough. Especially in the circumstances that she did it in, so no wonder she had passed out.

"What about Alphonse, my brother? Is he alright?" Ed asked finally.

"I'm not the doctor on his case, I'll send Dr. Kerritz along your way when he is out of surgery," he nodded as he left the room.

"Did they tell you anything?" she turned back to the blue-eyed blonde who now again sat in the chair beside the bed.

"Not much, the last I checked he was still in surgery to make sure that there was no internal bleeding and was given a transfusion," Winry stated with a hint of worry.

Edeline threw her covers off and began hunting down her uniform to change from this godawful gown.

"What are you doing?" the mechanic looked at her in shock.

"Trying to find something to change into," Ed declared as a matter of fact.

"Uhm… it's…" Winry tried to warn her, but she had already found her uniform neatly folded in the closet. Her jacket was stained with Al's blood.

The pants and the shirt were more or less spared, so she quickly put those on after stripping from the hospital gown and threw her hair up in a simple ponytail. She felt naked without the chest bandages that seemed to have been thrown out. Or they probably had to cut it off, her shirt was a button-up, so it was easier for the nurses to get her out of that without drastic measures when she was unconscious, but those didn't survive.

It was only now that she realized that Winry was still in her pink dress, torn and also bloody in some places. It seemed she had never left her side.

"If you want to, you can go home you know, change, take a shower. You had a pretty rough night," Ed fished her keys out from her pants and gave them to the other girl.

"Are you sure? Can I bring you something?" she hesitantly asked.

"Clean clothes for both Al and me would be nice. Maybe toiletries and food. Thank you," the ex-alchemist kissed Winry on the cheek then was out the door in an instant looking for Al, whom she found one floor above them in the post-op care unit of the surgical ward.

What she didn't expect was Elena and Havoc sitting outside his hospital room, both in the same clothes from the day before.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ed inquired with surprise. She figured after the incident Prince Claudio was going to keep the errant princess real close and the team would be back at HQ interrogating suspects or averting an international crisis or home sleeping or something.

"Chief, you are awake!" Jean exclaimed in relief as he looked the blonde girl up and down, frowning when he saw that she was back in her own clothes. "Did they release you?"

"Not exactly, but they also didn't find anything wrong so see if I care," she huffed flippantly.

Elena, who until now sat there in sort of shock, shot up from her seat and hugged Ed for her dear life, sobbing.  _What is it with crying females today?_  Ed scratched her head embarrassedly.

"Anyone for Alphonse Elric?" a doctor in scrubs came up to them a few minutes later.

"Yeah, he is my brother," Ed replied to the man.

"I'm Dr. Kerritz, I was the cardiologist operating on Mr. Elric. I heard you did emergency medical alchemy on him in the field. I must say it was a flawless job, we were able to remove the bullet with only a small pericardial window. There was no internal bleeding so he should be out of the woods," the surgeon explained in that detached voice doctors usually speak in.

"Expected recovery time?" she knew the drill, they were in hospitals way too much over past years, although that was mostly her if you didn't count the three months Al had to spend there when he finally got his body back.

"Around 4-6 weeks until full recovery, but if no complications arise we can probably release him from the hospital 7-8 days from now."

"When can we go see him?" the older Elric asked after a huge relieved sigh.

"He should be waking up soon, but for now only family, one at a time. He will be groggy for a few more hours because of the anesthesia," Dr. Kerritz commented then left them to check on other patients.

"Sorry guys, I'll go ahead," Edeline left the still slightly shaken up princess in the lieutenant's care.  _I wonder why he was the one left with the babysitting duty…_

Steady rhythmic beeping welcomed her as she pushed the hospital room door open. With an injury like this, it was only natural that he would be kept on a heart monitor for a while. Al was a little pale but otherwise fine on the outside.

"You silly idiot. Look who isn't aware that they are not invincible anymore…" Ed muttered as she pulled a chair up next to him and took his left hand into her own.

"You don't get to talk, Sis…" Al's groggy but slightly amused voice came from the bed.

"Shut up," she huffed at the jabbing.

"Only after you do," the younger Elric kept smirking lopsidedly.

"You really scared me for a second there," Ed's mood took a serious turn.

"I know. I was sure I was going to die…" Al trailed off as he recalled his life flashing before his eyes after the bullet pierced him right in the chest.  _I shouldn't have survived that…_  "Wait a minute… what did you do?"

"Uhm…" the ex-alchemist scratched the back of her head.

"You can't be serious! You could have died!" he groaned agitatedly once the realization hit him that his sister performed human transmutation again, with his Gate nonetheless. After everything they have talked about, her theory regarding just how dangerous this was because of the risk shifting. The monitors started beeping a little faster. At that moment Fullmetal vowed to herself that she was never going to tell the full extent of her sacrifice. Now that she thought about it… she never told him about Baschool and the mine incident either.

"Calm down, Al, before they come in and kick me out!" Ed cried out, squeezing his hand a little to reassure him. Al took a deep breath with a bit of a wince to regain his calm.

"What did you have to give up?" the younger Elric asked finally flatly.

"Surprisingly nothing…" Al looked at her dubiously at that statement. "It turns out I did something nobody has ever done before, so Truth took that new knowledge about the universe as payment. And as an added bonus I got my memories back…"

"How did that happen?" he inquired with genuine curiosity. A long time ago he promised that he would find a way to return them to her. He never would have thought that this was the way. Although Ed having those flashbacks during indirect alchemy that she vehemently denied should have been a clear sign.

"I guess just the eternal sunshine of the spotless mind…" Ed laughed at her own movie reference, which of course left her brother all confused again. "Sorry, a memory, I will explain later. Anyway similar concept to your soul being attracted to your body, my memories just rushed back to me the moment I set foot there."

"But I thought you used my Gate, how could your memories have been there?" the blond boy raised a brow at that notion.

"Our Gates have never separated it seems, even after I gave up my own," the ex-alchemist shrugged. Al's eyes started drooping again, and for a minute Ed wondered how much he would remember from this conversation. "Get some more rest."

"Whatever you say, Sis," he yawned and went back to sleep.

"You know, Al… humans truly are amazing," Ed sighed as she leaned back in the chair. After all that they had been through, they were still here.

Even if a little worse for wear. Though the doctors said there was absolutely nothing wrong with her, ever since waking up she had been feeling a little light-headed, a little bit less in touch with her own body.  _Just as Truth said… I wonder just how much time I have left in this world…_  The mathematics was still hazy, but she would be surprised if she lived to be fifty.

* * *

The rest of the diplomatic visit went smoothly even without Ed's input into the whole thing. She refused to leave Al's side. The peace talks were completed, the treaty was signed. There was nothing else to be asked for.

Mustang's team was specially thanked by Prince Claudio for keeping both him and his sister safe. For some reason, Ed had a feeling that there was a promotion in there somewhere for the bastard.  _Finally…_

Unless… you see… once the paramedics take you to the hospital and the nurses have to cut off chest bandages only to find out you are a woman despite everything that has been in your official medical records indicating otherwise, there is really no going back.

Roy tried his best to prevent it, but given that right after the transmutation she just collapsed and was barely breathing, there really wasn't much else to be done but to let the doctors do their thing.

Edeline took sole responsibility for it, and everyone played their part very convincingly that they had known nothing about this, so probably the General's position and reputation wasn't in question.

As for Ed, she was granted amnesty by Führer Grumman for this fraudulent act for two reasons: first, the outdated law had been revoked ever since the Promised Day, second, her service to the country undoubtedly outweighed the fact that she lied about her gender. This did put her under the scrutinizing glances of the higher-ups though, and she had probably lost all chances of another promotion, but she didn't care about that.

_All_ _in a week's work…_

Their free time was spent by Al's bed with Ed's journal in hand as she explained through her drawings all the various unbelievable things she had seen and the stories of her adventures with her friends that she made in the worlds she had visited. Unbelievable was the operative word here… They teased the blonde mercilessly on the more ridiculous points of her stories, Al usually demanding a wide range of explanations.

As it turned out, someone had the decency – or nerve, really depends on your views – to notify Mei of Al's near-fatal run-in with a bullet, but for some reason forgot to mention it to either Ed or Al. So when said Xingese princess burst into the hospital on their final day there before Al's release, only to find an attractive younger little princess – who had refused to go home with his brother to Aerugo – feeding sliced apples to Al, who Mei thought was on his deathbed… well, let's just say the green-eyed monster is indeed an ugly look on anyone.

Things cooled down soon enough though when Al explained that she was only like a sister to him, and Elena insisted that she just wanted to repay the younger Elric for saving her.

Since housing this many guests in her tiny apartment became genuinely impossible, Ed decided to just book too freaking hotel rooms on her own expense, one for Al and Mei, and the other of course for Elena, only to have a semblance of peace in her own damned home again.

After they said their goodnights on the day of Al's release from the hospital, Ed was finally able to spend her evening with just Winry by her side.

As they settled themselves in bed to sleep something occurred to the ex-alchemist, which elicited a sly grin on her face. She pulled the blue-eyed blonde closer to her and whispered in her ear.

"Hey, Winry… I know about the screw that you accidentally left out of my arm all those years ago…"

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The seven times Ed did human transmutation: (1) attempting to bring their mom back, (2) pulling Al's soul back, (3) getting out of Gluttony's stomach, (4) first failed trade of alchemy and going to Marvel world, (5) second failed trade and going to HP world, (6) getting home from HP world, and finally (7) saving Al's life after gunshot. First three entirely as per canon, from 4th on as set out in the story. In canon, Ed did 4 human transmutations.
> 
> So this is the end… But only of Part 3! I'm sure many of you were much unsatisfied, and since I had great fun writing this trilogy of sorts... Stay tuned for Part 4 with Alphonse in the focal point of it all, it will be called 'Next generation.'
> 
> Another story sort of referenced here is 'A Song of Fire and Ice' which is also now complete and up (it's about Roy and co on mission in the north right before the start of episode 1 of FMAB).


End file.
